This chapter provides an insight into how the value of nature is conceptualised and the different kinds of values that nature has. It identifies the difference between approaches that consider nature to have primarily an instrumental value – where it is of use to society – and those which focus on the intrinsic value of nature, that is, where the value of nature has as an end in and of itself. The chapter explores how this plays out in the urban arena and what implications this has for methods and ways to assess different values of nature. Through a detailed account of values and benefits, potential economic assessment techniques and their limitations, this chapter also presents how these techniques capture the values of diverse stakeholders and discusses the implications when stakeholders attribute different and sometimes conflicting values and benefits. The chapter engages with two case studies to illustrate its key messages: Cape Town Environmental Education Trust in Cape Town, South Africa, and Beekeeping at Audi Hungaria in Győr, Hungary.

In Chapter 12, the author discusses approaches to judging the effectiveness of both criterion-referenced and norm-reference performance assessments. The chapter includes guidelines for helping create or evaluate performance assessments for particular contexts. It also describes how to use statistical techniques for the same purpose. The chapter presents actual ratings from a classroom-based group oral discussion test and shows how teachers used statistics to determine both score dependability and reliability. The author discusses how to calculate coefficient agreement to help determine the dependability of the assessment and Cronbach’s Alpha to help determine its reliability. A major point of the chapter is that when certain conditions exist, test users can exploit an assessment to determine test takers’ mastery of language criteria (criterion-referenced purpose) and to compare their abilities (norm-referenced purpose). The author provides an appendix that shows readers how to use Excel software to calculate the statistics in the chapter.

In Chapter 6, the author introduces dichotomously scored items and their common use with receptive language abilities, such as listening and reading, and knowledge-based language, including vocabulary and grammar. The author discusses some common dichotomously scored item types, including multiple-choice, true–false, and short-answer items. The strengths and weaknesses of each item type for particular contexts is a major focus. The chapter introduces various principles for creating or selecting inputs for listening and reading assessments, including when to use scripted, authentic, or authenticated speech, and particular speech varieties and visuals for listening. The author also discusses item preview, or the presentation of the questions and/or answer options prior to reading or listening, and the number of times test administrators should allow test takers to listen to an input. The focus is on the language assessment principles that underlie these decisions.

In Chapter 8, the author introduces readers to item-level statistics and Cronbach’s Alpha as an estimate of internal reliability, all of which are useful for analyzing and revising dichotomously scored language assessments. The chapter focuses on two item-level statistics: item facility, or how easy an item is for a group of test takers, and point-biserial, which provides an indication of how well an item measures the targeted language ability. The author shows readers how to calculate these values and interpret their meaning for particular language assessment contexts. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how to calculate and interpret reliability based on Cronbach’s Alpha. The author also provides guidelines for interpreting reliability estimates for various language assessment contexts. An appendix provides guidance for using Excel software to calculate these statistics.

This chapter focuses on understanding how urban nature is conceived, imagined, framed, and utilised in relation to specific urban sustainability challenges. Urban nature and nature-based solutions are sites for interventions to develop new kinds of solutions based on the value that nature is seen to be able to provide. The chapter investigates the technical and biophysical properties of urban nature and nature-based solutions by presenting eight types of urban ecological domains, illustrated with practical examples, as well as an initial categorisation of urban landscape domains. In addition, the ecosystem services associated with different types of urban nature and nature-based solutions are outlined, including provisioning services, regulating services, habitat and supporting services, and cultural services. The chapter engages with two case studies to illustrate its key messages: BiodiverCity in Malmö, Sweden, and the Tolka Valley Park in Dublin, Ireland.

In Chapter 2, the author introduces some basic language assessment principles and various approaches to language assessment. It begins with a discussion of stakes, objectiveness, and frame of reference. The main focus is on the difference between criterion-referenced tests, where people use tests to compare test takers’ abilities to certain standards, and norm-referenced assessments, where they use tests to compare test takers’ abilities to those of others. In this chapter, the author also introduces some approaches to language assessment, namely dynamic, learning-oriented, self-, formative, summative, and portfolio assessment. The author describes each of these approaches and discusses how they inform the approach to language assessment that guides the subsequent chapters of the book. The author also briefly describes the purpose and uses of diagnostic, placement, proficiency, and standardized tests. The chapter includes some examples that provide readers with opportunities to experience different approaches to assessment.

This chapter outlines the different conceptual frameworks that can be used to better understand the evolving role nature has played in cities. It distinguishes between socioecological systems and urban political ecology, each of which influence how nature has been regarded and treated in different time periods and urban settings. It seeks to provide an overview of these concepts and explain their implications for how urban nature and nature-based solutions are constructed and viewed today as an urban policy issue. The chapter presents different approaches to understanding urban nature, nature-based solutions, and the relationship between nature and cities. It also discusses the emergence of urban nature and nature-based solutions as a response to urban sustainability challenges. The chapter engages with two case studies to illustrate its key messages: Urban Forest Strategy in Melbourne, Australia, and the Eco-Valley of Tianjin Eco-City in Tianjin, China.

Mainstreaming urban nature and nature-based solutions requires that we understand the key challenges and opportunities that are facing projects on the ground. This chapter revisits the main themes of the textbook, providing concise conclusions about the key points, arguments, and findings presented in the previous chapters and summarising the key implications for urban nature and nature-based solutions in the context of transformative pathways for sustainability. To break the dominance of grey infrastructure, new approaches are needed for the development, implementation, and mainstreaming of nature in cities. The chapter engages with two case studies to illustrate its key messages: Barcelona, Spain, and Sofia, Bulgaria.

This chapter introduces the politics and policy of urban nature and nature-based solutions, stemming from a diversity of flexible governance modes and novel financial arrangements with a strong involvement of local communities. It opens with a discussion of the different visions of nature that are present in cities, followed by a more detailed examination of two particularly conflicting visions: the extent to which nature is to be mobilised as a tool for public welfare versus one for private profit. Then the chapter situates nature-based solutions in the context of three specific debates that illustrate their political and contested nature. First, the extent to which the drive for multi-functionality of urban nature can be a double-edged sword. Second, the tensions between green growth and gentrification and the pitfalls of greening exclusionary urban change. And finally, the need to consider issues of justice and equity within nature-based solutions. Through case studies of innovative park management in Newcastle, the United Kingdom, and East-Boston rail-to-trail Greenway in Boston, the United States, the chapter highlights enabling conditions that can drive systemic, just, ecologically sustainable and genuine integration of nature into urban life and policy.

In Chapter 5, the author lays out the principles of uniformity – the consistency of the setting, content, and scoring procedures – and reliability, which is the consistency and stability of assessment scores. The chapter details the aspects of setting, content, and scoring procedures in various assessment contexts and what measures test users should take to maintain their consistency across test takers and test administrations. The chapter includes a discussion of the role of test accommodations, and how researchers can balance the needs of test takers with the principles of uniformity and reliability. An important feature of the chapter is the introduction of assistive technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence for helping ensure uniformity in an assessment context. The chapter concludes with a brief introduction to the concepts of test-retest, parallel forms, and internal reliability.