Designing Tomorrow’s Agriculture: Role of Ecosystem Services

Ecological sustainability is the key foundation for human wellbeing. Sustainability of agricultural production will be claiming an ever- increasing significance in a world of a rapidly growing population, a dwindling resource base, and the imperatives of conserving a healthy environment and viable ecosystems. The role of natural processes and their utilisation for sustained production are and will be receiving increasing attention from practitioners, policy makers, and the public, and are becoming a cornerstone of the ecological intensification of food, fibre and bioenergy production. These ecological processes, dependent in turn on the diversity of life, form the basis for ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services are the goods and services derived from natural and managed ecosystems upon which human welfare depends. Ecosystem services include highly diverse phenomena, from the production of food to recreational benefits. And the range of performance varies from microbes to landscapes. The challenges are to recognise and valuate the flow of services so that agricultural land use can be better accommodated to the functioning of ecosystems. The crucial question is: Are we ready to address these challenges?

This course is designed to provide students with a solid understanding of the concept of ecosystem services. It will demonstrate how natural processes in the ecosystems used for agriculture support the continuous provisioning of food and other biomass, contribute to the purification of waters and soil, and create recreational and cultural experiences on farmland. On a practical level, the course will equip students with a framework for the evaluation and re-design of the farm cases in relation to ecosystem services. In addition, it provides information on the environmental policies and agricultural research in Finland. The focus is especially but not exclusively on organic systems.

Why attend this course?
- To learn to recognise a range of ecosystem services related to agricultural production
- To become familiar with currently available agronomic and technological advances that enhance ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems
- To be able to apply ecological principles and agronomic knowledge to practical on-farm
solutions; and last but not least,
- To acquire working skills in an intercultural, multilingual and interdisciplinary group, and in reflective and collaborative learning.

The course will be led by Dr Irina Herzon, docent in agroecology at the
University of Helsinki. The course is based on collaboration among three departments:
Agricultural Sciences, Food and Environmental Sciences, and Forest Sciences, as well as
the input from MTT, the Agrifood Research and Finnish Environment Institute.

Please direct any questions concerning the content of this course to the course coordinator, Ms Heli Honkanen, heli.honkanen@helsinki.fi. Any question concerning the general arrangements (accommodation, scholarship, etc.) should be addressed to the Summer School's office at summer-school@helsinki.fi