Research

Most efforts will be directed during next years to improve the knowledge generation and transfer related to adaptation and mitigation to climate change and ecosystem services and their relation with intangible heritage, in a holistic approach to global change focused on four main areas of work: water, energy, land and biodiversity. 

 

Ecosystem services are all the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans. The EU and national policies for the land use, rural development and nature protection are the most influential present drivers of the landscape change, determining also the environment management practices and thus impacting status of the different ecosystems and services they provide.

 

The UNESCO Chair has performed analysis of the national policies and regulatory framework in different countries in order to assess the established conditions for the management and impacts on ecosystems and related ecosystem services. The assessment has reveled that policy objectives in general are in favor for maintenance of biodiversity, however depending on measures applied the impacts can be both – positive and negative. 

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The analysis serve as a conceptual basis for development of integrated ecosystem management approach as well as formulating recommendations to the national authorities for improvement of rural development policies and strengthening of the legal systems for ecosystem management.