In many areas of ecology and conservation, academic knowledge has reached limits where the provision of new data and models alone is not sufficient to engage the public in science or influence public policy. We increasingly realize that many pressing problems facing ecological research and society require insight and methodologies from beyond the traditional realm of the natural sciences. In this symposium, we will use one of the central foci of ecological research, namely the quantification and maintenance of ecosystem services and ecosystem functioning, to highlight the potential important contributions that disciplines such as philosophy, environmental ethics, history, education, and law can make toward the development of effective interactions between research, education, and public policy. We argue that the very notion of ecosystem functioning (as well as of biodiversity, which is often seen as closely related to it) cannot be grasped in purely scientific ways, as both philosophical and historical analyses show. In recent years, the issue has also become highly politicized, particularly by discussions related to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and its focus on ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human well-being. Therefore, moving beyond a single-minded focus on research is essential to the development of full intellectual potential in the subject but also to secure public engagement and support. We will demonstrate that methods from the humanities and social sciences can contribute decisively to: (1) understanding the problem and clarifying research themes; (2) structuring research and education programs; (3) selecting reference states of functioning ecosystems based on both scientific input and societal values (“social choice”); (4) evaluating desired ecosystem states and the means to achieve them; and (5) communicating and translating social and scientific perceptions of nature and (functioning) ecosystems to both the public and policy makers. We suggest that this approach has the potential to change individual and institutional behaviors, reflect a wider set of values, and explicitly consider societal benefits in the establishment of research agendas. The speakers are drawn from ecology, humanities, and social sciences, all having long experiences in bridging the divide between these fields of knowledge and practice.