Service ecosystems: why the media industry prefers access, not ownership

PurposeBecause of the increasing importance of access over ownership, the purpose of this paper is to propose a service ecosystem perspective to help managers navigate hypercompetition. With the rise of cloud-based services and the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy has shifted toward hypercompetition, a state characterized by organizational advantages that are rapidly created and then destroyed by intense competitive moves. Because advantages are quickly eroded, organizations must be aggressive in the number of actions they take and the speed with which they execute these actions. The service ecosystem perspective focuses on relationships that allow organizations to jointly adjust to one another and to their environment.Design/methodology/approachThis paper first reviews traditional strategies for navigating hypercompetition. Then, it presents an explanation of the service ecosystem perspective. Finally, the three north stars and media examples are provided.FindingsThe service ecosystem perspective asserts "north stars” that can guide managerial decision-making in hypercompetitive environments. These north stars are: cultivate system norms, facilitate feedback loops and embrace servitization.Originality/valueIn today's world, organizations are increasingly seeking access to resources instead of ownership of them. The proposed approach suggests that, rather than an organization owning the resources it needs to achieve advantages, organizations are increasingly relying on accessing resources by coordinating with other organizations to draw upon the resource(s) as needed, without incurring the additional burdens of ownership. Examples from the media industry are used to illustrate the three north stars of the service ecosystems perspective.

From COVID-19 to Green Recovery with natural capital accounting

The COVID-19 pandemic and related social and economic emergencies induced massive public spending and increased global debt. Economic recovery is now an opportunity to rebuild natural capital alongside financial, physical, social and human capital, for long-term societal benefit. Yet, current decision-making is dominated by economic imperatives and information systems that do not consider society's dependence on natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides. New international standards for natural capital accounting (NCA) are now available to integrate environmental information into government decision-making. By revealing the effects of policies that influence natural capital, NCA supports identification, implementation and monitoring of Green Recovery pathways, including where environment and economy are most positively interlinked. © 2022, The Author(s).

Differences in Perceptions of Naturalness among Urban Park User Groups in Seoul

Though the activities in urban facilities have declined during the COVID-19, the demand for visiting open spaces and parks has increased. Visitors to city parks also increased in Seoul. People have realized that nature is an important space for safety, health, and leisure in their everyday life. This study implied that people intended to visit city parks as a natural space in the urban area. So, an assessment criterion of the quality of environments of city parks, naturalness is selected as one of the indicators. This study chose six parks as a study subject in Seoul and found differences for users in the perception of naturalness in city parks. Q methodology is a useful tool to identify differences between individual's perceptions of nature. Through the Q analysis, six groups have differences in the perception and the valuation of naturalness. The study found that differences have resulted from their past experiences, personal preferences, and psychological status. The first group can be named a dynamic type who enjoys various landscapes, and the second is the group of people who love to meditate in serene woodlands. The third group wants to observe the animals and consider the ecosystem as important, and the fourth group is those who love to feel the changing seasons with sensitivity. The fifth group recognizes nature through the contrast between the building and the natural environment in the city. The last group is those who pursue conservation for old trees or the existing nature environment itself. As a general, appraisal of perceived naturalness is subjective and individual. The perception of naturalness influences landscape preferences and attitudes to city parks. Therefore, the naturalness perceived by users should be a crucial consideration to maximize park services so that users can appreciate various tastes © This open access article is published under a Creative Commons [Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International] license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Simulating the Spatial Mismatch between Ecosystem Services’ (ESs’) Supply and Demand Based on Their Spatial Transfer in Urban Agglomeration Area, China

Ecosystem service spatial transfer is considered a feature that can deliver ecosystem services at a distance to meet the demands in areas with uneven spatial distribution of natural and social economic development. The natural ES spatial transfer distance and intensity were simulated by using the modified breaking point model in the Central Plains urban agglomeration (CPUA) with the cities of Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Shangqiu, and Huaibei stretching across. It is shown that there is a spatial mismatch between ES supply from ecospace and its demands from cities;relying only on natural spatial transfer, none of the ESs of the ecospace can be transported to corresponding population centers;and a spatial gap between ES supply and demand is illustrated in urban agglomeration areas. Intercity cooperation in ecosystem management and landscape planning based on ES spatial transfer would be good choices for cities, giving full play to comparative advantages to achieve sustainable development for the entire CPUA.

Making waves: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 anthropause in the Netherlands on urban aquatic ecosystem services provisioning and management.

The anomalous past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a test of human response to global crisis management as typical human activities were significantly altered. The COVID-instigated anthropause has illustrated the influence that humans and the biosphere have on each other, especially given the variety of national mobility interventions that have been implemented globally. These local COVID-19-era restrictions influenced human-ecosystem interactions through changes in accessibility of water systems and changes in ecosystem service demand. Four urban aquatic case studies in the Netherlands demonstrated shifts in human demand during the anthropause. For instance, reduced boat traffic in Amsterdam canals led to improved water clarity. In comparison, ongoing service exploitation from increased recreational fishing, use of bathing waters and national parks visitation are heightening concerns about potential ecosystem degradation. We distilled management lessons from both the case studies as well as from recent literature pertaining to ecological intactness and social relevance. Equally important to the lessons themselves, however, is the pace at which informed management practices are established after the pandemic ends, particularly as many communities currently recognize the importance of aquatic ecosystems and are amenable to their protection.

Adapting a Participatory and Ecosystem-Based Assessment Impacted by the Pandemic: Lessons Learned With Farmers in Tajikistan

The paper presents a systemic and participatory assessment approach and scrutinizes how methodological changes necessitated during the Covid-19 pandemic implicated the process and its outcomes. The approach was applied in rural Tajikistan to evaluate changes effected by a development project that promoted the enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agrarian landscapes. The central building block of the assessment consisted of participatory workshops in 2018 and 2020 with farmers and other stakeholders to develop a systemic knowledge map and to evaluate the promoted strategies based on local expertise. The methodological basis was MARISCO (adaptive MAnagement of vulnerability and RISk at COnservation sites), a holistic and participatory approach to ecosystem-based assessment and management that requires well-trained facilitators. While the activities in 2018 could be implemented as planned, major changes in the work plan were necessary in 2020 due to severe travel restrictions and social distancing rules. Conducting virtual workshops was not possible, as it would have excluded key stakeholders from the process. Instead of conducting a comprehensive assessment workshop guided by two German MARISCO facilitators as originally planned, a series of short and small workshops could be realized. These workshops were facilitated by Tajik scientists after receiving virtual training from their German colleagues. Although it was possible to bring the assessment to a satisfactory conclusion, the methodological changes revealed significant drawbacks. Radical simplifications of the methods were necessary that led to reduced depth of the assessment and missed learning opportunities for participants. Limited experience in workshop guidance by the new facilitators posed challenges to the participatory process and the quality of its outcomes. While the adapted method created training effects that would otherwise have been missed, it also put additional pressure on the capacities of local partners. Our experience during the pandemic offers valuable lessons learned for future applications of systemic-participatory approaches. Whereas, a complete shift to remote applications is problematic, there is a need to put greater emphasis on capacitating local partners. Methodological trade-offs are necessary for partially remote working processes, but principles of participation and systemic thinking should not be compromised. Copyright © 2021 Spies, Schick, Karomatov, Bakokhoja, Zikriyokhon, Jobirov, Bloch and Ibisch.

Epidemiology, Biodiversity, and Technological Trajectories in the Brazilian Amazon: From Malaria to COVID-19.

The Amazon biome is under severe threat due to increasing deforestation rates and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services while sustaining a high burden of neglected tropical diseases. Approximately two thirds of this biome are located within Brazilian territory. There, socio-economic and environmental landscape transformations are linked to the regional agrarian economy dynamics, which has developed into six techno-productive trajectories (TTs). These TTs are the product of the historical interaction between Peasant and Farmer and Rancher practices, technologies and rationalities. This article investigates the distribution of the dominant Brazilian Amazon TTs and their association with environmental degradation and vulnerability to neglected tropical diseases. The goal is to provide a framework for the joint debate of the local economic, environmental and health dimensions. We calculated the dominant TT for each municipality in 2017. Peasant trajectories (TT1, TT2, and TT3) are dominant in ca. fifty percent of the Amazon territory, mostly concentrated in areas covered by continuous forest where malaria is an important morbidity and mortality cause. Cattle raising trajectories are associated with higher deforestation rates. Meanwhile, Farmer and Rancher economies are becoming dominant trajectories, comprising large scale cattle and grain production. These trajectories are associated with rapid biodiversity loss and a high prevalence of neglected tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis, Aedes-borne diseases and Chagas disease. Overall, these results defy simplistic views that the dominant development trajectory for the Amazon will optimize economic, health and environmental indicators. This approach lays the groundwork for a more integrated narrative consistent with the economic history of the Brazilian Amazon.

Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium.

Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events, schools, and non-essential businesses and the prohibition of non-essential travels. However, going outside to exercise was recommended by the Belgian government. During this period, we conducted an online survey to determine if people visit nature more frequently than before and to identify the factors that contribute to this. The results are based on data from 11,352 participants in Flanders, Belgium. With the use of a bivariate and multiple regression analysis, results indicate that people visit nature more frequently than before and that nature helped to maintain social relationships during the coronavirus period. Gardens were reported to be the most popular place, followed by parks. More than half of the people experienced nature in a more positive way, and the belief that nature visits are important for general health increased. In addition, we found a positive association between nature visits and home satisfaction, as well as a positive association with subjective mental and physical health. Lastly, we identified several demographic factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate the importance of nature visits for general well-being and highlight the need for nearby green infrastructure.