Case F Knowledge Integration in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is an example of an integrated assessment study. The study is well known because of its use of the now common but also contested concept of Ecosystem Services. The case illustrates the advantages and challenges of integrating different forms of knowledge, including natural sciences, social sciences, and indigenous and local knowledge using a conceptual framework (Section 7.4) and it also illustrates the barriers to and political implications of knowledge integration (Sections 7.3 and 7.5).