Supporting Stakeholder Engagement in Research Organizations

Stakeholder Engagement in one of the pillars in Europe's strategy on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). Although research organizations often already include other parties in their research process, the quality of... [ view full abstract ]

Stakeholder Engagement in one of the pillars in Europe's strategy on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). Although research organizations often already include other parties in their research process, the quality of these types of engagement are often sub optimal. Reed (2008) defines eight criteria that should be met for good quality stakeholder engagement.

Reed’s criteria: 1) Clear objectives for the participatory process need to be agreed among stakeholders at the outset; 2) Relevant stakeholders need to be analysed and represented systematically; 3) Methods should be selected and tailored to the decision-making context, considering the objectives, type of participants and appropriate level of engagement; 4) Where relevant, stakeholder participation should be considered as early as possible and throughout the process; 5) Stakeholder participation needs to be underpinned by a philosophy that emphasises empowerment, equity, trust and learning; 6) Highly skilled facilitation is essential; 7) Local and scientific knowledges should be integrated; 8) Participation needs to be institutionalized.

At the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) an evaluation of the quality of its stakeholder engagement has been made (Ramadhin, 2015). In this process, the criteria by Reed have been used. The study showed that the level of experience with stakeholder engagement is very different between parts of the institute. In the public health part of the institute one often wondered why such a study was needed as a strong history on stakeholder engagement exists, while in other parts of the institute part mixed experiences have been found. A second observation was that the practices of stakeholder engagement are not easily revealed. Often these activities are deeply embedded in research projects. Moreover, it appeared that improvements in e.g. stakeholder analysis and the organizational capacity for moderating stakeholder meetings could be made. This formed the base line for the development of a tool kit for stakeholder engagement. The toolkit provides practical information, theories and methods. In this contribution we will show different components of the toolkit and illustrate their relevancy for RIVM and other organizations.