The ecosystem services are all the benefits that nature provides to humans. If we are able to measure them, we will be able to put in value all that the environment does for us. The concept of ecosystem service thus underlines our dependence on nature. It is conceived as a new way of facing the relations between humans and nature, and focus on increasing our awareness to protect the environment. The concept has gained great relevance at the scientific level. Thus, the main platform of the UN for the protection of nature is the "Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services". In addition, the EU has introduced criteria based on ecosystem services in its environmental and land management policies (e.g. green infrastructure, forestry, and biodiversity strategies). However, ecosystem services remain largely unknown to the general public and have hardly reached European secondary school classes. OBJECTIVE ValuingNature project addressed this shortcoming by the creation of a multi-stakeholder partnership with universities and high-schools from the different biogeographical areas of Europe (Atlantic, Mediterranean, Alpine, Continental, Boreal, Arctic) aimed at generating high-quality intellectual outputs to provide the European students with new skills and competences about ecosystem services and all the benefits that humans obtain from nature in a context of climate change and under a cross-cultural and diachronic approach. TARGET ValuingNature targeted teachers and students in rural areas. It is in these areas, many of which are peripheral, ageing and depopulated, where links with nature are most palpable and where ecosystem servicies are the main force for development and a good basis for entrepreneurship and job creation. Furthermore, it is these same ecosystem servicies that provide human groups with a cultural identity through the ecological heritage received from their ancestors, a heritage that is being lost but which is also their best tool for tackling climate change. RESULTS ValuingNature produced a complete solution for teachers to include the ecosystem services framework in the classroom. It included a MOOC specifically designed for teacher training. In addition, it also produced a web platform with content and activities successfully tested with students, including different activities previously validated, explained in detail and with everything necessary for their implementation in the classroom. Each activity is accompanied by practical examples from the main biogeographical areas of Europe. Some of the activities are supported by the use of an APP for economic valuation of ecosystem services also developed in this project. In addition, an eBook with a cross-cultural comparison of intergenerational dialogues on ecosystem services carried out by all school partners is available. BENEFITS Students who incorporate a vision of human-nature relations based on the ecosystem services framework will tend to be more aware of environmental protection, more appreciative of the ecological heritage received by their ancestors, and more determined to meet the challenge of adapting to climate change. But unlike previous environmental proposals, ecosystem service valuation, while raising awareness, also gives them tools to seek novel solutions.
The aim of ValuingNature Erasmus+ has been to introduce the concept of ecosystem services and nature's contributions to humans in European secondary school classrooms. To do so, we have sought to generate the necessary materials, first, to train the teachers themselves, and second, to generate content and resources that can be used in the classroom, always with a transversal vision of the environment and adapted for different ages. Furthermore, from the very conception of the project, it was intended to be a reflection of European cultural and biogeographical diversity, including partners in the Arctic, Boreal, Alpine, Continental, Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical regions. All this in a context of climate change and rapid cultural loss. The aim is that, as early as secondary school, students will reflect on the value of nature in their lives and that this will lead to greater environmental awareness and a better understanding of European environmental and cultural diversity and the links between culture and nature.
The University of Salamanca has been working in recent years on a new paradigm of understanding the relationship between humans and nature, the ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are all the benefits we obtain from nature and aim to emphasise and value the importance that nature and biodiversity have in our lives. The ecosystem services paradigm is on all international environmental agendas, with multiple initiatives such as IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) under the auspices of the United Nations, the ESP (Ecosystem Services Partnership), the SEEA (System of Environmental Economic Accounting) of UN, or private initiatives such as the Capitals Coalition. It has also quickly found its way onto EU agendas, being at the basis of its Biodiversity Strategy and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. It is also in all spatial planning policies and other sectoral policies related to energy, fisheries or forestry. There are many research projects funded by the European Union: Esmeralda, Maes, Marfebes, Selina, some of which have already been completed. However, although this paradigm shift is taking place rapidly, it has hardly reached university classrooms, let alone secondary schools.