COS 93-4 - Stakeholder engagement to address concerns and opportunities of Food-Energy-Water systems

Abstract: Complex human-environment systems are challenged by demands on natural resources and accelerating climate change. Given the impact of society on the environment, effective stakeholder engagement is essential for improving understanding of the complexity of these integrated systems and for creating actionable solutions to the challenges they present. In practice, several barriers can hinder stakeholder engagement in interconnected resource systems. The goal of this study was to develop a methodological foundation to help research teams properly prioritize, prepare, and sustain stakeholder-engaged environmental research.

To accomplish this goal, this study explored the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus as an example of a human-environment system and proposed a framework for effective stakeholder engagement. Our team invited assistance from the 122 participants in the National Science Foundation-funded ENGAGE INFEWs Research Coordination Network. Participants across 16 research engagements identified the most important lessons or challenges in working to engage with stakeholders in their FEWs research. Key principles of stakeholder engagement were derived from that information as well as from the experiences of our research team.

The resulting framework is based on six gears of engagement: diversity, listening, value, trust, accountability, and adaptability. These six gears are an essential part of assessing progress toward meeting, identifying, and addressing goals for FEW systems. Such an assessment occurs in a stepwise and iterative manner with identification of stakeholders being a key step toward stakeholder engagement.

Use of this framework is demonstrated by applying it to example case studies of agricultural landscapes in western Mexico and the Highlands of Guatemala, where stakeholder engagement was essential for determining the goals and key indicators for progress toward sustainable agriculture.

The project resulted in several recommendations for making stakeholder engagement a more significant dimension of FEWS research. First, investigators should include research questions that focus on the role of stakeholders in the adoption and diffusion of scientific and technological innovation. Second, research teams should seek to include social scientists, as experts in stakeholder engagement processes. While it is challenging to apply all six gears simultaneously, our approach can foster more inclusive, sustained, and actionable engagement with stakeholders to address complex human-environment challenges.