Valuation through deliberation - Citizens' panels on peatland ecosystem services in Finland
Heli Saarikoski, Jyri Mustajoki
Abstract
Deliberative valuation of ecosystem services is expected to capture the diversity of values related to ecosystem services and to facilitate learning and reconsideration of previously held preferences and positions. This paper reports on a study of a deliberative non-monetary valuation process that was designed to address the value of peatland ecosystem services in Southern Finland. Three parallel citizen panels were organised in order to consider the relative merits of energy peat extraction and peatland protection and to assign value to peatland ecosystem services. The results suggest that increased understanding of peatlands' role in carbon storage, together with reflection on the underlying value positions, led the panellists to adopt a more critical view of energy peat use. All three panels came independently to the same conclusion that peat extraction should be gradually phased out and replaced with renewable energy production. The results also sustain the hypothesis that deliberative settings evoke citizen preferences as the arguments used in the discussions were predominantly public spirited, referring to the common good instead of individual interests. We discuss the outcomes and factors that influenced the deliberations and make recommendations for effective deliberative designs.