What is the value of the environment around us? Many green spaces have suffered from being undervalued, or simply not valued at all, because they are dismissed as externalities in economic calculations. Some environmentalists feel that green and wild space is priceless and should be cordoned off from mankind, whilst others increasingly believe that green space must demonstrate value in order to be conserved. The concept of value is creating some interest in policy circles, with "public value" proving a way of discussing how different kinds of value – aesthetic, educational, economic and community – can be measured and taken more explicitly into account in decision making. So a key technique for environmentalists should be to taken different kinds of hidden value and make them more visible. My latest ploy is create a new form of educational value around my local (disused) cemetery which also acts as a mini-nature reserve in an urban area. I plan to create a website with each headstone linked to the census record of that individual whilst they were still alive. Spooky, but it would create a new kind of educational value around the green space, particularly as the cemetery is right by the school. Organisations like the Heritage Lottery Fund are increasingly demanding evidence of educational value in distribution of funds to small projects like this one. Possibly doesn't have the same scope as say, err Friends Reunited, but could break new ground in the small world of cemetery enthusiasts...
