Ecosystem Services Partnership

The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) aims to enhance communication, coordination and cooperation, and to build a strong network of individuals and organizations. ES-Partnership enhances and encourages a diversity of approaches, while reducing unnecessary duplication of effort in the conceptualization and application of ecosystem services. By raising the profile of ecosystem services and promoting better practice, the ES-Partnership will also increase o pportunities for financial support and help focus the funding of individual organizations for more efficient utilization of existing funds.

The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ES-Partnership) was launched in 2008 by the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics (University of Vermont, USA) and is now being coordinated by the Environmental Systems Analysis Group (Wageningen University, the Netherlands), supported by the Foundation for Sustainable Development (Wageningen, The Netherlands). The ES-Partnership consists of institutional and individual members. The Partnership has a specified governance structure and Executive committee.

ESP Conferences

Since 2008 ESP has organised several conference about ecosystem services. Since 2016 ESP organises world conferences in the uneven year, and regional conferences in the even year in a bi-annual cycle. The following conferences have been organised previously:

ESP Regional conferences

• ACES and ESP conference on Ecosystem Services, 5-9 December 2016, Florida, USA
• African ESP conference, Ecosystem Services for SDGs in Africa, 21-25 November 2016, Kenya
• Latin American ESP conference, Healthy ecosystems for resilient societies, 18-22 October, 2016, Colombia
• Antwerp, Belgium 2016 – Helping nature to help us
• Ansan-si, South Korea 2016 – Ecosystem services for nature based solutions

ESP World conferences

• 2015 - Ecosystem services for Nature, People and Prosperity Stellenbosch, South Africa
• 2014 ‐ Local Action for the common good  San José, Costa Rica
• 2013 ‐ Making ecosystem services count! Bali, Indonesia
• 2012 ‐ Ecosystem Services Come of Age Portland, USA
• 2011 ‐ Ecosystem Services: Integrating Science and Practice Wageningen, Netherlands
• 2010 ‐ Solutions for Sustaining Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Kiel, Germany
• 2009 ‐ Modelling Ecosystem Services Lecce, Italy
• 2008‐ Solution for problems or a problem that needs solution? Kiel, Germany