The Importance of Accounting for Stakeholder Values, Power Relationships and Language in Constructing Relevant and Trustworthy Climate Information

Abstract

Facing increasing risks from climate change, governments at all levels have started to mainstream the use of climate information. It has been widely acknowledged that the inclusion of stakeholder knowledge and needs, for example, in a co‐design and co‐production process, is important for producing user‐relevant information. Here we start from a hypothetical example and two real‐world case studies from South America and West Africa to discuss the role of user values, power relationships and language in the construction of climate information. While these aspects have been discussed individually in several papers, we focus on the mutual influences of these aspects in the information construction and argue that, therefore, they cannot be considered separately. We identify five dimensions—the level of risk, the complexity of the scientific problem, user values, power relationships and language—to characterize the complexity of a given user context. Analyzing these dimensions can guide the choice and design of user engagement in a given situation. In particular, even basic research may benefit from such an engagement. Regularly accounting for these aspects in research projects may require substantial changes in the way research funding is organized and how the work of researchers is rewarded.Facing increasing risks from climate change, local, national and transnational governments have started to support and require the use of climate information in private and public investments. It is widely known that including the knowledge and needs of information users is important for producing user‐relevant information. Here we discuss, for this process, the role of what is important for users, how influential some users are, and which background information and technical terms users are familiar with. We illustrate our arguments with a made‐up example and two real‐world case studies from South America and West Africa. While these aspects have been discussed separately before, we focus on how they influence each other. We argue that they cannot be considered separately. We explain how understanding these aspects in the specific situation of users, for example, engineers, risk analysts or decision makers, can help setting up a useful collaboration with the users. To account for these aspects in regular research, funding agencies would have to provide the necessary funding for a close collaboration with users. Accounting for stakeholder values, power relationships and language is important to construct user‐relevant climate information These aspects cannot be treated separately as they influence each other in the information construction Risk level, scientific complexity, user values, power and language guide the choice and design of user engagement in a given situation