Stakeholder participation
Why stakeholder participation?
By involving different stakeholders, it is possible for more people to learn from each other and for more diverse perspectives to be taken into account. Having more people on board means there are more people who can question and reflect upon good and bad aspects of the project, as well as who can suggest possibilities for improvement. In other words, the degree of reflexivity will likely increase, and hence also probably the quality of the outcomes.
Stakeholder participation is also likely to enhance the legitimacy of a solution, increasing the chances that the solution is supported and trusted by the community to which it is being proposed. By engaging people, they can feel more connected with the process or product and are therefore also more likely to experience a sense of co-ownership and support for the outcomes. Additionally, a participatory approach can increase the sense of co-responsibility (accountability) among the stakeholders, therefore making them more eager and better positioned to contribute towards the implementation of the plan. This is particularly important considering that a common critique towards strategic planning is that it does not lead to action.
Degree of stakeholder involvement
The degree/intensity of stakeholder involvement can also differ considerably and depends on the scope of the project. The table outlines four different types of stakeholder involvement.
This classification was not developed in the context of participatory backcasting. When conducting a participatory backcasting project, the general aim is for collaboration and ultimately empowerment. However, to reach these levels requires time and dedication, which is not always possible due to time, resource and access limitations.
Challenges
There are many different ways to involve the stakeholders in a participatory process. One possibility is to invite them to take part in co-creation workshops focused on consensus-building, conflict resolution ad moderation of discussions. Although often a rewarding and interesting learning process, co-creation workshops are rather complicated and require special skills for design and moderation. Available techniques to be used within a co-creation workshop include, but are not limited to, cognitive and context mapping, storyboards, inspiration cards, modelling, and games. Another possibility is to conduct interviews with the stakeholders. More opportunities for stakeholder involvement are outlined in the section on approaches and methods.
Unfortunately, within a participatory process, it happens that participation is used in a non-scientific way. One example is when a powerful (loud/strong/opinionated/…) stakeholder tries to influence others to favour a certain solution or decision, which might not be in the best interest of the community as a whole. The matter of who contributes in what way is ultimately an ethical question and must be taken into consideration when designing the process.
Other challenges associated with stakeholder participation and multi-actor decision-making include bounded rationality, groupthink effect and cognitive biases. Moreover, although the goal is to inspire creativity and out of the box thinking, this in itself constitutes a core challenge highlighting the need for careful design of the participatory elements.
Another ever-present issue associated with stakeholder involvement is that of stakeholder fatigue, that is, tiring the stakeholders by “over-consulting” them at the same time as they do not perceive that their contributions are having a meaningful impact. There is a delicate balance to be struck between on the one hand involving the stakeholders to a great enough extent to indeed make collaboration and empowerment possible, but on the other hand recognise that the stakeholders have many other obligations. To avoid disinterest, it is essential to design an efficient stakeholder interaction process. A general recommendation is also to seek to demonstrate to the stakeholders in as clear a way as possible that their participation is worthwhile.