Stakeholder engagement has become mainstream in participatory research and policy processes in the marine realm. This has been driven by the paradigm of governance, and the advances towards new modes of producing science.
Nowadays we have a myriad of guides, best practices, lessons learnt and recommendations for a successful implementation of participatory processes. These build on empirical findings and comparative analyses across fields, sectors and geographical levels. Nonetheless, engagement with stakeholders remains a multi-layered and challenging component of the scientific process.
The evidence available has prompted new scientific questions that call for collective thinking – questions that are well-placed also in ICES realm where engagement is practiced in increasingly many forms.
This session is designed to catalyse the debate across ICES community, focusing on three topics:
- Conceptual challenges. Do we need to coin new labels? Stakeholders, right holders, the ones to be holders, and other creatures
- Analytical challenges. Do we have the right frameworks and tools to understand and assess stakeholder engagement performance?
- Uncomfortable truths. Sharing experiences on stakeholder engagement and reflecting on factors such as power asymmetries, tokenistic engagement, or legitimacy
