Over the past three years, ILEC has been promoting the introduction of Participatory Ecosystem Services Shared Value Assessment (PESSVA) in Malaysia with support from the Japan Fund for Global Environment. Building on this effort, a new three-year initiative starting in FY2025 aims to disseminate an approach that integrates PESSVA, Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM), and Heartware (an approach to environmental conservation that emphasizes human empathy and translates it into action) across Asian countries.

As part of this initiative, a workshop was held in Kuala Lumpur on February 12, 2026, to discuss the contributions of PESSVA to environmental conservation. The workshop was co-organized with the University of Malaya and brought together 45 participants, including local residents, municipal officials, experts, and university students. Participants engaged in active discussions on the potential application of PESSVA surveys in the Klang River Basin and on the development of an integrated PESSVA–ILBM–Heartware approach. During the discussions, participants expressed interest in using PESSVA as a practical tool to address the complex social and environmental challenges facing urban river basins.

Participants also shared the view that if PESSVA can clarify differences in values among stakeholders, such as government agencies, local communities, and businesses, it could provide useful information for strengthening participatory governance and informing urban land-use planning.

In addition, the workshop highlighted the potential of PESSVA to deepen understanding of how environmental problems affect different people and communities. Participants noted that combining PESSVA with educational activities could help promote long-term behavioral change toward environmental conservation.