Ecological modelling and spatial planning for conservation and management of natural capital
This session focuses on quantitative ecological modelling and spatial planning as core tools for understanding, governing, and sustaining natural capital under environmental change and socio-economic pressure. It emphasises approaches that represent biophysical processes, ecological limits, and spatial structure, and that translate these into operational knowledge for conservation, restoration, and land-use decision-making, including species distribution modelling, spatial prioritisation and connectivity analysis, ecosystem service and natural capital assessment, scenario-based forecasting of land-use and climate change impacts, and the use of remote sensing and GIS.
The session situates such work within coupled social–ecological systems, linking ecological models with socio-economic information and governance processes, treating ecological constraints and biophysical limits as primary boundary conditions. Particular interest lies in approaches that address scale, uncertainty, and validation, support feasible development pathways, and treat nature as a structured, dynamic system that conditions social and economic organisation.
The session situates such work within coupled social–ecological systems, linking ecological models with socio-economic information and governance processes, treating ecological constraints and biophysical limits as primary boundary conditions. Particular interest lies in approaches that address scale, uncertainty, and validation, support feasible development pathways, and treat nature as a structured, dynamic system that conditions social and economic organisation.
Main topics:
- Species distribution modelling
- Spatial prioritisation and optimisation methods (e.g. reserve design, connectivity analysis)
- Modelling ecosystem services and natural capital assessment
- Integration of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and socio-economic data in spatial planning
- Scenario analysis and forecasting of land-use and climate change impacts
- Use of remote sensing and GIS in ecological modelling
- Uncertainty, scale, and validation issues in ecological and spatial models
Format: in person
Working language: English
