Ecosystem Services as (Co-)performative Practice: Experiences from Integrated Water Management in Flanders

Ann Van Herzele, Melissa Ceuterick, Marleen Buizer and Michael Leone

Ecological Economics, 2019, vol. 162, issue C, 29-38

Abstract: Environmental concepts are performative in that they help create the environment they describe. This paper explores the performativity of the ecosystem services concept in the field of integrated water management in Flanders (northern Belgium). The data was collected from 23 in-depth interviews with professionals in the field, conducted in two rounds with a five-year interval and complemented with on-site observations of practices applying the concept. Results indicate that ecosystem services was only marginally performative on its own, and rather was seen as a ‘co-performative concept’ that – in conjunction with existing concepts – could accelerate the envisioned integration process through promoting initiatives, mobilising stakeholders, shaping orientation, creating win-win situations, and more. Yet, despite these aspirations, the concept has in general failed to perform as expected. Many perceived ecosystem services as an academic concept, too complex for practical application. Common strategies were either to adapt the concept to fit one’s professional context or to create a new practical context (a stakeholder workshop, for example) where the concept could function. The paper goes on to discuss the more general implications of the (pseudo-)malleability and context-dependence of the ecosystem services concept.

Keywords: Performativity; Environmental concepts; Ecosystem services; Malleability; Integrated Water Resources Management; Socio-technical agencement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800918318676
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:162:y:2019:i:c:p:29-38

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.04.021

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().