As researchers when results get published it gives you a great sense of achievement, however this sensation morphs into gloom when the results, at times, simply get shelved. One way to counteract this is to ensure that stakeholder engagement is embedded into the research design from the onset and throughout all subsequent phases.
How We Approach Stakeholder Engagement
At T6, we strive to ensure that our research projects have elements of participatory processes which cultivate the creation of a community of interest around the project, enabling research results to be more impactful. This community of interest is composed of stakeholders who are not merely passive recipients of published results but they are active participants in the research process.
There are a plentitude of different activities we use to integrate stakeholder engagement in research delivery. Usually, this includes two parallel work streams. On the one hand, a continuously evolving stakeholder mapping exercise where we identify quadruple helix stakeholders: industry, academia, policy (local, regional, national and international) and civil society centred around the main project topic area (e.g. circularity, natural-based solutions, Sustainable Development Goals, etc.). This database is then expanded with respect to specific project needs and kept up-to-date throughout the duration of the project.
On the other hand, in parallel, a suite of engagement activities takes place whereby insights generated from stakeholder interactions feed into the research process via feed-back loops.
This array of participatory activities can include:
- in-depth/semi-structured interviews to identify and unpack motivations, barriers and opportunities linked to the topic area and, through a snowballing technique, to find other stakeholders,
- workshops (e.g. multi-stakeholder forums, roundtables, policy events) where participants are invited to offer feedback and react to preliminary research findings (e.g. on suggested narratives for more circular practices as we did in the CircEUlar project or on how Earth Observation (EO) data can enhance the monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the SDGs-EYES project),
- small group working sessions structured around a specific research need where participants are invited to take on the role of “critical friends” or “peer reviewers”, and
- informal exchanges and consultations with specific types of stakeholders or domain experts (e.g. policy dialogue, brainstorming on the practical implications of the research,etc.).
Purpose of engaging stakeholders
The main reasons for engaging stakeholders are reach, data gathering and validation.
In terms of reach, engaging stakeholders enhances network access and ensures research has more breadth and influence. Working with stakeholders also improves the collection of relevant information or data on specific issues. Stakeholders, in addition, can validate different aspects of the research process from co-designing and testing research outputs, to verifying research findings and brainstorming next steps for research design (e.g. in terms of parameters or scope). More specifically, engaging certain types of stakeholders means research has an impact in their line of work. For example, engaging policy stakeholders especially increases the likelihood of research becoming part of their own decision-making.
Stakeholder engagement transforms research into actionable insights, increasing its relevance and impact. In order for research results to be impactful they have to draw from current practice and be implementable in real life, hence the importance of creating a hub of interest around the project via stakeholder engagement.
Explore how stakeholder engagement can nurture research impact:
- Check out the stakeholder engagement methodology we developed for CircEUlar: click here to read it
- Check out the pamphlet outlining the outcomes of the policy event for SDGs-EYES: click here to read it
Carayannis, E.G. and Campbell, D.F.J. (2009) ‘‘Mode 3’ and ‘Quadruple Helix’: toward a 21st century fractal innovation ecosystem’, Int. J. Technology Management, Vol. 46, Nos. 3/4, pp.201–234. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240295704_’Mode_3’_and_’Quadruple_Helix’_Toward_a_21st_century_fractal_innovation_ecosystem
Bracken, L.J., Bulkeley, H.A., Whitman, G., 2015. Transdisciplinary research: understanding the stakeholder perspective. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 58, 1291–1308. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2014.921596