A theory of participation: what makes stakeholder and public engagement in environmental management work?

Mark S. Reed  Steven Vella  Edward Challies  Joris de Vente  Lynne Frewer Daniela Hohenwallner‐Ries  Tobias Huber  Rosmarie K. Neumann  Elizabeth A. Oughton Julian Sidoli del Ceno  Hedwig van Delden 

Highlights

• The agency (who initiates/leads) and mode of engagement does not necessarily predict its outcomes.
• Stakeholder and public engagement may not be appropriate where there have been unsuccessful previous attempts, are insufficient resources, or is no culture of participation.
• Coproductive approaches to engagement that systematically represent stakeholders and/or publics are more likely to achieve beneficial outcomes.
• Engagement outcomes are influenced by power dynamics, the values of participants, and their epistemologies, and so may benefit from professional facilitation.
• Length and frequency of engagement need to match the goals of the process, recognizing that outcomes are highly scale‐dependent over space and time.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec.12541