Scientific activities which are targeted to engage and enact on societal problems – and governance of sustainability transition itself is one such activity – are necessarily prescriptive endeavours, have to recognize the fundamental normativity of sustainable development, need to be based on...

A major strength of the ecosystem services (ESS) concept is that it allows a succinct description of how human well-being depends on nature, showing that the neglect of such dependencies has negative consequences on human well-being and the economy. As ESS refer to human needs and interests,...

Current conceptual debates on the impacts of ecosystem services (ESS) on human well-being often boil down to discussing the application and limitations of monetisation approaches. Meanwhile we argue that ESS can be understood in a richer and more nuanced way if we revisit the human well-being...

Using the capability approach, we analyse a recent environmental conflict in the city of Leipzig, Germany. Following its concept of flood protection, a state authority felled thousands of trees in a highly popular nature protection area, which culminated in public protests and lawsuits. In...