Survey on Spatial Planning, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Ecosystem Services in Chile, 2015

This research addresses the understanding of three concepts: spatial planning, strategic environmental assessment and ecosystem services, in a multi-actor setting in Chile. For that a survey based on a questionnaire application was implemented involving government institutions, research institutions and consultants. The questionnaire consisted in 20 questions including a set of Likert, closed and open ended questions. The focus of the questionnaire was on issues such as network relations among actors and on conceptual understanding, perceptions and challenges for integrating ES in SEA and spatial planning, knowledge on methodological approaches, and the connections and gaps in science-policy. The main findings suggest that a common understanding of SEA and especially of ES is still in an initial stage in Chile when we consider the context of multiple actors. Additionally, the lack of institutional guidelines and methodological support is considered the main challenge for integration. We conclude that preconditions exist in Chile for integrating ES in SEA and the spatial planning practice, but they strongly depend on an appropriate governance scheme which encourages a close interaction science-policy as well as collaborative work and learning.
This research was based on three sequential stages:
1) identification of key actors;
2) collection of information about an actor’s understanding and perceptions through a questionnaire, and
3) data processing, based on the questionnaire and data processing. We adopted a mixed method including qualitative and quantitative analyses, so that representativeness, but also individual perceptions of our actors could be addressed.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to address the folowing research questions:

1) Who are the key actors to be included to enable the implementation of ES in spatial planning through the SEA process, and which are the current network relations based on their associated conceptual understanding?
2) How is the integration of ES in SEA and spatial planning perceived by the different actors, and which challenges are recognized?
3) Which methodological approaches are identified for SEA, and which are considered as shared between SEA and ES?
4) Which are the critical connections and gaps in the relation science-policy and which channels of communication/information are used by the actors for their knowledge and understanding of ES and SEA.