How can we value the environment, this is the crucial issue that this book debates. The critical analyses carried out within the book by such figures as Nick Hanley and Jonathan Aldred are vital to ensuring that future economic growth is not achieved at the expense of our environment.

This chapter demonstrates how the reflexive governance approach is applied to innovative institutional design of the science–policy interface in global and local public goods provision. To achieve this objective, it discusses methodological options for sustainability valuation, explaining different valuation methods used in various real-world applications. The chapter highlights those methods that are conceptually and practically suitable for evaluating policies, programs, and projects where sustainability is a key factor. It also reviews sustainability valuation methods, which mix analytical and collective methods that (...) require knowledge and provide learning opportunities during the valuation process, resulting in a transparent process. Different types of evaluation and institutional structures also influence the result of sustainability valuation. (shrink)