A Framework for Engaging with Stakeholders to Conduct Actionable Climate Adaptation Research

Abstract:

Climate change is already impacting natural and cultural resources throughout the US and globally. Resource managers are turning to the scientific community for actionable tools and guidance on how best to adapt to current and projected future conditions. The social science of how to create actionable adaptation science is a growing field of inquiry that has already demonstrated that effective climate services require researchers to engage science end-users to understand the decision context, the need for evidence, and the usability of the information. However, terms to describe the engagement of stakeholders in climate adaptation research (e.g., co-production) are used imprecisely in the literature and often span a range of different approaches.

The authors present a conceptual framework to characterize common stakeholder engagement approaches used to conduct actionable climate adaptation research. The framework is intended to both provide a standardized vocabulary for describing engagement and help researchers navigate and select the approach that might best fit their objectives. Following Davidson’s wheel of participation and building on previous stakeholder engagement research, we classify approaches on a spectrum of Inform, Consult, Participate, and Empower. We acknowledge that there is no individual “best” approach to engagement and that selection of an engagement approach is highly context-dependent. We highlight how the researcher’s scientific objectives can guide the selection of their engagement approach and that multiple engagement approaches might be required over the lifetime of a project as the researcher builds relationships or moves to new audiences.