NEC05943 Natural Capital Knowledge Exchange to Support Healthy Local Economies (Open Call)

Two current ambitions of the Government are: to create a fairer and more balanced economy in which all parts of the country benefit from growth that is environmentally sustainable and inter-generationally fair, as set out in the 2010 Local Growth White Paper; and to improve the quality of our natural environment across England moving to a net gain in the value of nature, as set out in the 2011 Natural Environment White Paper. The Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) have been established in response to these ambitions with the aims of developing the interaction between people and the environment and understanding how the environment contributes to the economy. This contributes to meeting a key Government commitment 'to equip local decision makers with the tools they need to assess the benefits that come from their land and water assets so they can use them most effectively, be it to support livelihoods, their local communities, the economy, the provision of public goods, or personal enjoyment.' Government recognises that natural capital makes an important contribution to economic growth and quality of life.

At present the knowledge and tools available to support this process are in places crude and often difficult to apply, and this is currently a hurdle in the development of effective interaction between the different stakeholders. There is a considerable gap between the outcomes of research carried out, and the information used by stakeholders to understand the value of the natural environment. Working to minimise this gap is central to this fellowship and I will work closely with relevant NERC-funded research outputs and key stakeholders ensuring that opportunities to integrate data, models and outputs are realised.

NERC funds a wide range of research focussing on the values and services provided by the natural environment, and a key part of this fellowship will be to work closely with those involved in that research to ensure that results are of use to stakeholders. Relevant programmes include The Changing Water Cycle Programme, The Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability and The Valuing Nature Network.

This fellowship will work closely with these (and other) programmes to identify where data sets, research results and information relating to natural capital can be interpreted for use by stakeholders. I will also work with the LNPs, LEPs and local authorities to investigate how the information can be presented in the most useful format and to demonstrate how it can support decision making. I will manage the two-way flow of information between stakeholders and the research community, feeding back to NERC the ongoing scientific needs that currently hinder the progress of the LEPs and LNPs. This support will further raise the profile of the value of the natural environment which will in turn contribute to the Government's long term goal 'to be the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than it inherited'.

Consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, both through the LNPs and LEPs and through direct engagement, will ensure that the value of the environment is understood in its widest context. Lessons learnt in exchanging knowledge with different stakeholder groups will be documented and shared so that the experience gained can have lasting benefit. By demonstrating the usefulness of NERC-funded research to stakeholders it is anticipated that this work will set in place ongoing relationships between the producers and users of research, data, evidence, analytical tools and models. The application of existing and future NERC research outputs will empower LNPs and LEPs to take a strategic approach to planning for nature within and across local areas. These relationships will be fundamental to the ongoing development of natural environmental research and its use in informing decisions and policies.