A socio-political sustainability analysis of the design and implementation of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanisms in European forests

The PhD will be carried on in parallel to a European project (SINCERE), uniting academic and practice partners around Europe, in the co-design and implementation of novel public policies, business models and mechanisms for the sustainable supply of and payment for forest ecosystem services. The PhD will focus on the socio-political sustainability issues related to the design and implementation of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanisms in general, and will analyse in depth three of the innovation action cases developed during the life-spam of the project. Those Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanisms will be critically evaluated in different stages (ex-ante and ex-post; self-assessment complemented with in-depth assessments) to ensure that the design of innovations and policy instruments satisfactorily address the issues of social justice and sustainability in general.