The book investigates the relationship between ecosystem services (ES) and spatial planning, and explores potential means of integrating the two concepts to support the decision-making process. In addition, it presents case studies demonstrating the outcomes, limitations, opportunities and further new developments in ES assessment/mapping for planning support. Then it describes the Restart from Ecosystem Services (RES) methodology, which is aimed at integrating ES into the planning process using an ecological balance, and at promoting new planning parameters for the transformation areas. RES ensures the inclusion of ES in planning processes using the incremental measures of limiting, mitigating and compensating soil sealing and land take process promoting operational strategies in applying it. The implementation of RES is associated with strategic environmental assessment and provides valuable support in the definition of strategies across the entire planning process, especially for the evaluation of alternative scenarios.

Provides a step-by-step methodology for adopting ecosystem services approach in spatial planning Adopts the Strategic Environmental Assessment as valid support implementing ecosystem services in defining planning strategies, especially in evaluating alternative scenarios Defines a procedure to evaluate the alteration of ecosystem services capacity due to land use/land cover changes using an ecological balance and to promote the adoption of new planning parameters for the transformation areas

Inhalt
Ecosystem services and Planning.- Methodology, approaches and innovative experiences.- Practical integration of Ecosystem services in the Planning process.- The adoption of RES methodology in Strategic Environmental Assessment. <p