Connecting Vegetation Management & Cultural Ecosystem Services in Grid Planning

6 days ago
2 min read

GINGR and the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) are hosting Connecting Vegetation Management & Cultural Ecosystem Services in Grid Planning on 1 July 2026 to explore how Cultural Ecosystem Services strengthen the planning and management of electricity infrastructure.

While biodiversity metrics, ecosystem accounting, and resilience indicators are becoming more common in grid planning, Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) remain significantly underrepresented. CES refer to the non-material benefits people derive from ecosystems, including aesthetic appreciation, recreation, education, identity, spiritual meaning, place attachment, and psychological well-being. Research increasingly shows that these values often play a decisive role in shaping public perceptions of infrastructure, influencing social acceptance, trust, and long-term legitimacy.

Our second session of the Connecting Energy, Nature & People Webinar Series will explore how Cultural Ecosystem Services can support more inclusive, transparent, and adaptive approaches to electricity infrastructure planning. Building on lessons from Integrated Vegetation Management, environmental psychology, ecosystem accounting, and participatory governance, the discussion will examine how vegetation management choices influence not only ecological performance but also how communities perceive biodiversity, landscape quality, and stewardship.

Speakers

Dr. Megan Garfinkel, Assistant Professor at Chicago State University, will present her research on community perceptions of vegetation management beneath power lines and the integration of ecological and social monitoring in transmission corridors.
Dr. Izabela Delabre, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography at Birkbeck, University of London, will discuss the benefits of adopting a deeper and more nuanced framing of cultural ecosystem services in policy and practice, considering the role of ecosystems in supporting human well-being, social relations, place attachment, and community resilience.
Dr. Kim Zoeller, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST), Stellenbosch University, will introduce an adapted framework that integrates Cultural Ecosystem Services into the IPBES conceptual framework to better understand how people's relationships with nature shape the benefits they receive from it.
Adrián Maté, Environmental Coordinator – GINGR, Renewables Grid Initiative, will explore how these perspectives can support more adaptive, inclusive, and socially responsive approaches to infrastructure governance and decision-making.

The webinar will also connect these insights to the evolving GINGR Framework, which seeks to develop globally aligned methodologies for measuring biodiversity gains, social legitimacy, and co-created community benefits in renewable energy and grid infrastructure.

Join us on 1 July, 15:00-16:30 CEST, as we explore how electricity infrastructure can contribute not only to climate and biodiversity goals but also to stronger relationships between people, nature, and the landscapes they share.