In this next section we address the fourth and final category of ecosystem services provided by urban forests: cultural ecosystem services. As we will see, this is a very important category, as urban forestry often has a strong focus on for example, providing recreational and aesthetic experiences. But the cultural ecosystem services encompass much more, as they also relate to education, creativity, place identify, and the like.
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
Explain what is meant with ‘cultural ecosystem services’.
Discuss why cultural ecosystem services are crucial in an urban forestry context.
Describe different categories and examples of cultural ecosystem services provided by urban forests.
Readings and Discussion Questions (For certificate learning only)
The readings for this section encompass two chapters from the Handbook of Urban Forestry. Please read the chapter by Kathleen Wolf on the social benefits and roles of urban green space, as well as Matilda van den Bosch’s chapter on the linkages between urban forests and human health. After reading both chapters, please post two discussion questions on the course forum. What stood out in these chapters? Do you agree with the perspective offered by the authors? How can we use some of this knowledge in urban forestry?
Lecture Recordings
Cecil Konijnendijk’s brief lecture introduces the cultural ecosystem services category. It introduces different types of cultural services as provided by the world’s urban forests. The lecture also highlights the difficulties in assessing cultural services, as they can be difficult to ‘measure’ – unlike some of the other ecosystem services.
Post-lecture Mini Quiz (For certificate learning only)
Now it’s time for you to complete an online, multiple choice topic quiz after finishing viewing each lecture for this topic. The main purpose of the quiz is to examine how well you grasp the contents for this topic. The quiz will be open-book, covering contents of the lecture(s) for the topic. You will have 5 mins to complete the quiz. Two attempts are allowed and higher mark will be saved for your grade. There will be 13 online topic quizzes throughout the course with 4-5 questions per quiz, each worth 4-5 points that collectively count for 10% towards the final grade.
When you are ready, click the link Mini Quiz 2.3 or go to left menu > Quizzes > Mini Quiz 2.3 to start taking the quiz.
Topic Summary
Cultural ecosystem services should be considered in every urban forestry policy or plan, as they deal with the central element of urban forestry: the many relationships between people and trees, between communities and nature. This section concludes the introduction of the four commonly used categories of ecosystem services and their relation to urban forestry.
Topic Self-review (For self learning)
To review what you have learned in the topic, you are encouraged to use the following reflection questions as a study guide to do a self-review for the topic:
Which types of cultural ecosystem services does the urban forest in your own neighbourhood provide?
Can you think of ways to assess some of these services? And how could we consider these services in urban forestry decision making?
Which cultural services are especially important, in your opinion? Why?
Graded Assignment(s) for the Week (For certificate learning only)
None.
FODE012
Requirements Changed
Topic 2.2: Regulatory Ecosystem Services of Urban Forests Topic 2.4: Green Infrastructure and High-tech Greening