The International Spring University on Ecosystem Services modeling (ISU-ES) 2013 is the first edition of an annual 2-week intensive course that aims to build a new generation of actors, in research, policy and management, who can profitably use ecosystem services models to address and solve sustainability problems. The course will follow a problem-based paradigm, learning the most advanced ES modeling techniques from theory and practice using case studies defined by the participants. It is organized by BC3 , The UNESCO Chair on “Sustainable Development and Environmental Education” of the University of the Basque Country and the City Hall of Bilbao, with the collaboration of other international academic and non-profit organizations.
Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits that societies obtain from nature. These include the direct provision of material goods, such as food, fuel and fiber; the regulation of undesired events, such as climate change and flooding; and many non-material benefits, such as sense of identity or aesthetic enjoyment. Mastering the discourse of ES is crucial to meeting the challenges of sustainability in the 21st century. Yet, due to the complexity of understanding and modeling ES provision, use and flow, operational ES-driven management remains a challenge.