Diverse Perceptions of Stakeholder Engagement within an Environmental Modeling Research Team

Abstract

Integrating stakeholder perspectives is increasingly important in environmental science as a growing number of research projects are justified with a "solutions" orientation prioritizing societal relevance. In earth systems modeling, there is potential for model developers to engage with stakeholders who may use modeling results to inform decisions about resource management and policy. Challenges associated with stakeholder engagement relate to how researchers perceive the role of stakeholders and how they view the utility of integrating knowledge and perspectives from outside academia in model development. This study analyzes researchers' perceptions of stakeholder engagement within BioEarth, a large collaborative regional earth systems modeling project designed to integrate input from agriculture and forestry sector decision-makers. The project addresses the impact of climate change on water, nitrogen and carbon cycling in the US Pacific Northwest. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess perceptions of stakeholder engagement among the 18principal investigators (PIs). Results reveal that PIs have varying perceptions of the role of stakeholders in earth systems modeling and diverse assessments of the optimal type and timing of stakeholder engagement. As funding agencies and research institutions promote increased collaboration with stakeholders from outside academia, these findings demonstrate fundamental differences of opinion among environmental scientists regarding the value of stakeholder engagement. This research has implications for transdisciplinary research projects that seek to address sustainability challenges by involving stakeholders in technical academic modeling. Facilitating learning opportunities for researchers who are new to stakeholder engagement is essential, as is close collaboration among researchers with different levels of prior stakeholder engagement experiences. © 2013 The Author(s).