In our view, valuation is not primarily a technical matter of quantifying substitution ratios which,
depending on circumstance, might be supply-side opportunity
costs or
demand-side subjective
trade-off preferences. Rather, we consider that value statements about the environment typically
emerge out of social processes of controversy and conflict. All choices, individual and collective, can
be seen as value statements implicit and explicit, but there is not a simple aggregation of prefer-
ences. Different social processes for environmen- tal valuation and management will tend to elicit
different evaluative responses. Valuation practices have a greater chance of social legitimacy and
policy usefulness when they are implemented with awareness of the deep social and institutional
dimensions of value formation.
The VALSE project set out to demonstrate these contentions through the design and imple-
mentation of effective procedures for eliciting en- vironmental
valuation statements
and for
addressing the conflicts that arise in four real situations of natural resource and environmental
decision-making. The work programme had four main aspects:
Phase I was the translation of general princi- ples for effective environmental valuation pro-
cedures that had been established from previous empirical and theoretical research and discus-
sion, into a range of working hypotheses about key physical, institutional, and ethical factors in
the social construction of environmental values.
Phase II made the passage from these method-
ological considerations to detailed research de- sign and valuation practices appropriate for the
specific features of four case studies — carried out in Spain, Italy, France and the United
Kingdom.
Phase III saw the reverse movement, from the
case studies back to wider methodological reflection, so as to formulate recommendations
about valuation practices as components in en- vironmental policy design and public expendi-
ture evaluation programmes.
Phase IV is the communication of the project
results to policymakers, researchers, and the interested public. This is accomplished formally
through workshops and symposia and a set of supporting written documents — including this
paper — and also informally through the ways that knowledge of the VALSE research is ab-
sorbed into these communities.
2. The case studies
Each of the VALSE case studies addressed situations of natural resource and systems man-
agement, notably water resources, forest and agri- cultural lands.
UK: economic and environmental values of
proposed reconversion of agricultural land into wetland fen.
France: social, ecological and economic valua-
tion of forest pockets within farmland;
Spain: institutional and ecological factors de- termining changes in water quality and quantity
management in the Canary Islands;
Italy: multiple criteria decision support analysis for identifying water resource use options for
regional development in Troina, Sicily. The research process, in each case, aimed simulta-
neously at 1 assessing in monetary and non- monetary
terms the
importance of
the environmental ‘values’ in question — that is, the
nature of their actual or potential commitments for maintaining these values; and 2 integrating
these valuation statements within a real decision- making process. This is what we mean by estab-
lishing
social processes
for environmental
valuation. More particularly, the case studies each centred
around the implementation of a procedure that sought to bring actors’ views and preferences into
a process of environmental policy option evalua- tion or decisionmaking. Each study had the com-
ponents:
i preliminary
scoping study;
ii detailed field research methodology and design;
iii interviews with key social actors and people in the interested communities; iv implementation
of a procedure which brought the social actors’ views and preferences into an environmental deci-
sionmaking or consultation process on the issues in question. The valuation tools applied in each
case were:
UK wet fens: contingent valuation willingness to pay survey, citizens’ jury;
Canary Islands water: diagnostic systems anal- ysis, institutional analysis;
France rural woodland: diagnostic systems analysis, discourse analysis, in-depth inter-
views, willingness-to-accept survey;
Sicily water and development: institutional analysis, multi-criteria analysis, in-depth inter-
views, attitudes and perceptions survey. We now introduce the case study findings in a
synthetic way.
2
.
1
. The UK agriculture 6ersus Wet Fens 6
aluation The valuation problem being considered was
the justification or not for the re-construction of a now-rare ecosystem, that of wet fens. If ap-
proached in the perspective of a conventional environmental cost benefit analysis, the aim will
be to identify ‘highest value’ viz., Pareto-optimal levels of agricultural production, wetlands and
any other resource use. This would mean compar- ing the costs of obtaining further wet fens, for
example, the loss of agricultural production, with the benefits of the enhanced environmental
amenity obtained. Monetary valuation is sought so that the loss in relation to one objective can be
quantified against the gain in relation to another.
The framing hypothesis of the UK study was that different value-articulating processes tend to
elicit different values. These differences are not just quantitative for example, higher or lower
money estimates, but also qualitative. In order to probe the character of contingent valuation and
citizen’s jury methods, respectively, as inputs to policy and decision-making, the research team
implemented two parallel processes, a contingent valuation survey CVM and a citizen’s jury CJ
in which the merits of a ‘live’ project — a really existing proposal to restore wet fen habitat in
East Anglia — were evaluated.
The wet fens CVM study was designed so as to obtain quantitative information and also to high-
light questions of motivations lying behind peo- ple’s
responses to
questions about
willingness-to-pay Spash et al., 1998. The essen- tial idea is that a CVM survey investigates ‘stated
behaviour’, but behind these statements there are a range of perceptions, social norms, beliefs and
habits which will determine what is stated and what degree of acceptance a person will have of
differing policy options.
For the survey, the format of a trust fund was chosen to reflect the likely type of institutional
arrangement that would arise from the really ex- isting lobby group, Wet Fens for the Future. This
group is looking to create projects to achieve wetland restoration in The Fens, and is concerned
to attract government and EC funding as well as private donations. The project being considered is
an environmental improvement, and a willingness to pay question format was employed because any
move towards an increase in wetlands in The Fens would require the purchase of farmland. The cen-
tral question was left open-ended:
How much would you be willing to pay as a one-off contribution to the trust fund to help
create wetland?
The amount an individual is willing to pay to create an area of wetland will vary with socio-eco-
nomic characteristics. The study hypothesised that environmental attitudes and beliefs may also help
explain the environmental values being expressed via contingent valuation surveys. Of the 713 indi-
viduals interviewed, 36 about 5 refused to answer the willingness to pay question and 182
about 26 were unable to answer, responding ‘‘don’t know’’. Spash 2000 gives a detailed ex-
amination of the attitudes and personal motiva- tions that, on the basis of statistical analysis of
the survey responses, may plausibly lie behind the protest votes, the ‘‘zeroes’’ and the propositions
of ‘‘don’t know’’.
On a methodological parallel with the CVM study, in July 1997 a Citizens’ Jury CJ was
organised in Ely, near the East Anglia fens dis- trict. The Jury was supported by an Advisory
Group made up of representatives of Cam- bridgeshire and Norfolk County Councils, the
Countryside Commission, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Farmers’
Union, Silsoe College part of Cranfield Univer-
sity, and local residents. The organisations repre- sented on the Advisory Group, along with some
others, all have an interest in proposals made in recent years to create more wetland areas in the
Fens. Some of them have been involved in the umbrella ‘Wet Fens for the Future’ project; others
would be affected by the proposals being made. The Jury was asked to discuss the following
question:
What priority, if any, should be given to the creation of wetlands in the Fens?
Sixteen jurors representing a cross-section of the population in the Fens and adjacent areas were
recruited by a market research company, using house-to-house visits. The jurors were lay people
with no particular prior expertise. They sat for four days, hearing evidence from a variety of
expert and other witnesses, and discussing the issues surrounding wetland creation in small
groups and in plenary session. The discussion was structured around options setting out different
ways of creating wetland for different purposes see Aldred and Jacobs, 1997, 2000. These op-
tions were:
Establish a nature reserve as put forward by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and North-
amptonshire Wildlife Trust
Incremental development
of wetlands
throughout the Fens through small-scale, farmer-led schemes
Multi-use recreational Fen centre as set out by
Norfolk College of Arts and Technology and others
No deliberate action
Interestingly, after consideration of these four op- tions, the Jury constructed for themselves a fifth
option — to establish a Fens ‘Covent Garden’ — centred on a local wholesale centre to distribute
fruit and vegetables produced in the Fens. Their justification was that, in this way more of the
added value in sales and distribution of Fens production could be retained in the Fens area.
Local produce should be branded and marketed as such for example as ‘Fen Food’. The job
creation and economic development potential of such a centre may be significant.
The Citizens’ Jury proved to be highly effective for investigating value issues that divided and
united different interest groups in the Fens com- munities. The options ‘No deliberate action’ and
‘Multi-use Fen centre’ were rejected. For the other three options — all considered to be realis-
tic and desirable the Nature Reserve, Incremental Development and Fens Covent Garden — de-
tailed recommendations on co-ordination and financial incentives were made. Not only were the
Jury participants themselves convinced of the value of their debates and recommendations, but
also local politicians became convinced of the value of the exercise.
2
.
2
. The Canary Islands institutional analysis Access to water resources in the Canary Islands
has been a matter of conflict for centuries. In the context of the VALSE project, an institutional
analysis was carried out in order to account for recent changes in the notion of water conflict
between commodity and public good perspectives and corresponding changes in the institutional
framework see Aguilera Klink et al., 1997, 1998, 2000a,b. Inspired broadly by Norgaard’s perspec-
tive on coevolutionary change, several distinct dimensions of the social process were identified
and studied: water as a commodity; water in terms of environmental functions; social values;
stakeholders’ interests; technology and science linking to uncertainty and ignorance; and the
institutional framework of water distribution and use.
The water valuation problem centres on confl- icts between short-term economic interests and
longer-term sustainability and social equity val- ues. Key decisions representing de facto valuation
decisions have been made some years ago. In 1987 the Canarian government set up a new water law
in an attempt to avoid the aquifer depletion by limiting to 15 years the rights for water with-
drawal with prospects of extension only if the aquifer is not damaged. Large water owners ini-
tiated a strong campaign against the government, pushing the idea that the government intention
was to confiscate the rights without compensa- tion. The campaign persuaded a large number of
small water owners, and curtailed public debate. The new law was abolished and a new government
was elected by promising a new law that ‘will respect the rights’ for the next 75 years.
In the wake of this, the valuation problem can be presented as a contest between two perspectives
on the water issues, as in Table 1 below. At present, the Individual Interests perspective prevails. While
formally the water is defined as a public good, in reality it is largely exploited as a private commod-
ity. The aquifer is on a path of irreversible deteri- oration due to overexploitation and resulting
marine intrusion. In the short run the existing institutional arrangement respects the dominant
water owners’ economic interests. But because of the worsening degradation, many water ‘owners’
are losing their not-very-well defined access rights. This aggravation of water scarcity results in pres-
sure for new solutions. In the measures so far adopted, water management is posed as a technical
question, such supply-side measures as construc- tion of new water distribution networks pipelines
and pumps, small dams, etc., residual water treat- ment and re-use in agriculture, implementation of
improved processes of brackish water and sea-wa- ter desalination. These supply measures involve
important public investments, though the benefits are very unevenly dispersed. Moreover, aquifer
deterioration is hastened by the brackish water desalination plants because they promote increased
extraction. Reform options can be appraised against three
key norms — economic efficiency, sustainable use and democratic process. In brief:
2
.
2
.
1
. Allocati6e efficiency of resource use Pareto-efficiency in water resource use implies
that water be allocated to its ‘highest value uses’ as defined by marginal costs and benefits. Because
water resources allocation is determined by a com- plicated power-brokering system, some users have
access at monetary costs per unit far lower than others. This is prima facie inefficient. It is also
inequitable. A search for improved efficiency must confront obstacles related to property rights. First,
vested interests having de facto ‘rights’ under the status quo will oppose changes reducing their
opportunities. Second, efficient resource use is, in part, a function of the property rights that apply.
2
.
2
.
2
. Sustainable water resource use The Canaries aquifer water is a naturally renew-
able resource vulnerable to degradation. The drop in water table and marine intrusion are irreversible
in that it may take longer to obtain ‘recovery’ than it takes to degrade. Restrictions to water use so as
to assure ‘sustainable use’ are proposed by some sectors of the Canaries society, and are also re-
quired legally under norms set by the EC. Imple- mentation of such norms would confront the
redistributional problems of, first, achieving re- duction to total water use relative to the status quo
and, second, deciding which social and economic interests shall be provided for within constraints
for sustainable use.
2
.
2
.
3
. Democracy The present situation is one where a democratic
process has been usurped by powerful economic interests. Reclaiming democratic values thus en-
tails a contesting of the status quo. Democracy as the social and daily process of practicing and
defending values such as freedom, justice, equity and rights of coexistence not dictated by willing-
ness-to-pay under status quo income distribution, involves a normative commitment. In this per-
Table 1 Two perspectives on the Canary Islands water issue
‘Social’ values ‘Individual’ interests
Water is a private good Water is a public good
The water rights are The rights are limited and
derivatives unlimited and absolutes
The owners have the The regulation should be
capacity for self-regulating exerted by the
Government There is not speculation
Speculation should be avoided
The water markets work Water transactions are
characterised by its properly
opacity Existence of fraud in the
Existence of transparency in water distribution
the water distribution The aquifer overexploitation
Overexploitation is evident has not been demonstrated
in some islands and aquifers
from a scientific point of view
spective the water valuation problem in the Ca- nary Islands is largely a problem of political
values and rights. All three could be pursued simultaneously as a
‘first best’ policy in a multi-criteria management of water use. But the present situation is very far
away from this possible first-best. The analysis highlights key scientific, economic and political
process issues that must be faced for durable solutions to be found. A more democratic social
valuation process would probably be accompa- nied by a stronger visibility of ‘sustainability’ and
‘social equity’ values in the debates.
2
.
3
. Woodland in rural France
:
from transaction price to transmitted social 6alue
The Bois de Bouchereau is a small forest islet of about 50 Ha situated in an agricultural region, an
open field country called the ‘Gaˆtinais Nord-Occi- dental’, about 100 km to the south-west of Paris.
This forest is composed of ‘parcels’ held as private property. The woodland has been, through differ-
ent generations, progressively divided into about 284 woodlots, or parcels, actually owned by
about 155 persons. It is an example of French ‘Ordinary Nature’, a natural space modified by
human intervention over many centuries. No ma- jor conflict about the uses of the wood has ap-
peared until now; the different uses as wood cutting, walking, hunting, daffodils gathering, and
so on, coexist. The valuation question is one of understanding whether enough social significance
is attached to the forest to ensure that it will sustained, and in what form.
In the first phase of the study, analyses were conducted that brought out the qualities of the
forest socio-eco-system as an indivisible ‘unite´ de valeur’. Based on both institutional and ecosys-
tems analysis, a dynamic simulation model was developed that represents the evolving forest sys-
tem through the interaction of human and ecolog- ical forces Heron 1997; O’Connor and Heron,
1999.
The model
expresses, as
a sort
of metaphor, the way that the forest is a sort of
‘social infrastructure’, described in terms of the variety of stakeholders woodlot owners, adjacent
farmers, hunters, visitors, and communal adminis- trators who contribute, and the variety of values
attributed to the forest system. The woodlots are transacted individually —
mostly in the context of a hereditary transmission. The changes of ownership involve monetary
transactions, administered through notary offices in the district. So there is a ‘price’ for a woodlot
when it changes hands. But this is not really a ‘market for woodlots’. The variety of users and
uses point to a high local significance of the woodland, associated mostly with the rural vil-
lage and agricultural community life in the region Noe¨l and Tsang King Sang, 1997. This high
valuation is now ‘at risk’ due to demographic and lifestyle change tendencies. The locally resident
population is growing older, and the process of rural depopulation means a growing proportion
of distant owners.
A survey was devised for an enquiry into actual and hypothetical market-like transactions defined
by a quantity and a price, and also an enquiry into the motivations for the actions — that is, the
social norms, customs, and individual beliefs — of the persons involved. The survey format com-
bined specific data and quantitative information together with open-ended questions that would
permit an ‘in-depth interview’. Deliberately, the questionnaire was simple, and focussed on the
price and other conditions under which existing proprietors might be willing-to-accept sale of their
parcel see Noe¨l et al., 2000; and for the original survey in French see Boisvert et al., 1998.
The results reveal how the ‘price’ of a woodlot is associated with a transaction whose significance
is far more than a ‘simple market value’. The pieces of forest are strongly perceived as elements
of familial heritage, inherited from previous gen- erations and passed on future generations. The
specific circumstances of each woodlot transaction family transmission, consolidation of holding by
local proprietors, departure of a family from the district highlight the social relationships this
community keeps up with and through this forest, reaffirming the social norms, individual and col-
lective attitudes that sustain and constitute the value. The woodlots are carriers of meaning —
proudly inherited from the previous generations and, as such, destined to be passed on future
generations.
2
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4
. The Troina Sicily
water 6aluation study The water valuation problem for the Commune
of Troina in Sicily began with the notion of a local water shortage in Troina, which could per-
haps be remedied by more effective use of existing resources or by changing use priorities. It turned
out that, although real water shortage is common in Sicily, Troina is an exception. The more signifi-
cant factor was a complex and heterogeneous collection of interests in the Troina water issue,
who up until now have had no effective dialogue.
The primary research task was to achieve an effective structuring of the water problem so that
negotiations among stakeholders could have some chance of a positive outcome. A set of options
was identified having a shortmedium temporal scale, relatively low costs and a good prospect of
being absorbed by the Triona community. These were:
‘Mineral water’ — to use some spring water sources located in the forest to produce bottled
mineral water. At the moment, this water flows free in the forest, so bottling it creates no new
water use conflict.
‘Mineral water plus recreation’ — to combine
mineral water with some recreational activities restaurant, hotel, etc. in the forest connected
with restoration of existing country houses which are property of the ‘Comune’.
‘Information campaign’ — to develop an exten-
sive information campaign about local water resources water cycle, water process, techno-
logical uses of water, water management, water distribution, ….
‘Galli law’ — the Galli framework law con-
cerns the basin authority, to be implemented by the central government. In Sicily water is ‘a
reserved topic’ of the regional government, which means difficulties in implementation.
‘Self-sufficiency’ — self-sufficiency of Troina
drinking water needs is a major short-term goal of the town administration in its water policy.
‘Compensation’ — compensation to Troina
for the fact that water is appropriated outside the community.
‘Changes to irrigation’ — investments in the
water irrigation structure in Catania pipelines, etc. could improve the efficiency of the water
use by Catania farmers, thus saving more water for Troina.
For the evaluation of these options, several ana- lytical methods were employed in a complemen-
tary way see Funtowicz et al., 1998, 2000; De Marchi et al., 2000.On the basis of an initial
institutional analysis, it was chosen to construct a multi-criteria analysis framework centred on the
identification of the key interest groups. By con- sidering appropriate criteria and alternatives, it
was then possible to take into account the confl- icting preferences of these groups. An impact
score system was devised, and an evaluation or impact matrix constructed. The scores were then
analysed by applying discrete multi-criteria tech- niques the NAIADE method so that a partial
ranking of policy options was obtained.
It was made clear from the outset of the study that the multi-criteria evaluation techniques were
not expected to solve the conflicts or uncertainties about Troina water use options. Rather, they can
help to provide insight into the nature of conflicts and into ways of exploring policy compromises
or policy solutions that could have a higher degree of equity on different income groups.
Given the contrasting interests, this is a situation where the decision maker the ‘Troina Com-
mune’ has to decide whose interests have prior- ity; no escape from value judgements is possible.
What is interesting is that the Troina community has quickly ‘internalised’ the notion of evaluation
tools as vehicles for developing public discussion and policy debate. They have spontaneously gone
beyond the idea of multi-criteria evaluation as a mechanical process of ranking, and have inte-
grated the study perspectives and results within their own political process.
3. A methodological reflection
