The first INCASE stakeholder event was held in Dublin's Alex Hotel in January 2020 to a full house - a day-long series of talks and workshops on Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments, aimed at clarifying the approach, answering questions and and exchanging ideas about our pilot project to apply a standardised system of Environmental-Economic Accounting at a catchment-level.
The four INCASE catchment area projects include:
Caragh, Co Kerry, a peatland area where the vital freshwater pearl mussel conservation is under way;
Bride, East Cork, with biodiversity regeneration farming in a largely agricultural catchment;
Figile bog, East Offaly, an area considerably impacted by the peat extraction industry, now in a transition towards renewable energy and peatland rehabilitation;
the River Dargle area, Co Wicklow, with its mix of urban areas, agriculture, forestry, moorland/heathland and peatland.
Project worker Dr Catherine Farrell outlined the INCASE plans for applying the Natural Capital approach here, with an overview on the topic from Irish Forum on Natural Capital director Jane Stout and a workshop from IDEEA Group economist Carl Obst via videolink from Australia.
One of the key areas that emerged was the need to collate and align various datasets to allow a comprehensive assessment of variations in our ecosystems over time, and along with it, the need to adopt "a common language" to allow the exchange of information and ideas into the future.
A very productive day rounded off with stakeholders from a range of areas bringing their own particular knowledge and expertise to the table in a lively exchange of ideas in our break-out brainstorming groups. Attendees can fill out a feedback survey and download slides from the event on the INCASE website.
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