Engagement is everything
That is true in so many sectors, especially within flood and coastal erosion risk management as so many people in the community can be impacted.
Stakeholder engagement is the prerequisite for risk management authorities (RMA) to plan how communities should meet the climate change challenge. Management plans, particularly those taking an adaptative pathways approach, are predicated on effective engagement processes.
The adaptive pathways approach uses the most up-to-date information and understanding about climate change to inform a long-term management plan. But it also acknowledges uncertainty and recognises that the science and local pressures can change. So, while it enables the development of flood alleviation measures and the maintenance of key defences in the short term, it is agile enough to evolve when new information dictates that it should.
The Thames Estuary 2100 Plan is a prime example of the adaptive approach. Ten indicators of change inform a five-yearly monitoring review of the estuary. The plan is typically reviewed and updated in full every ten years.
An adaptive management plan stays agile when it is comprehensively informed
Stakeholder engagement is fundamental to that process because an adaptive plan must reflect the community’s shared experience. If stakeholders don’t engage or aren’t included for one reason or another, the plan can only be partially informed and is likely to have a challenging approval process.
For the community to be ready to adapt, to be agile, it must be sold on the idea in the first place. That can take considerable time and needs regular engagement in order to win hearts and minds. The importance of social value and community benefits cannot be overstated here.
The challenge for RMAs is that a community is not a homogenous entity primed to accept adaptation. Multiple priorities and conflicting views are inevitable, given the mix of roles and responsibilities in both the process and the community.
It’s not enough to expect, or hope, that stakeholders will rally behind the threat of climate change either. Spatial and temporal bias can undermine the critical point. Communities might fear short-term impacts and there can be a lack of understanding of the long-term benefits.
The emphasis must be on building an engagement infrastructure, an ecosystem that cultivates engagement and embraces uncertainty. Consistent engagement with regular updates can be equally important in tackling the uncertainty.
Stakeholder mapping and analysis is a critical first step
It should be more sophisticated than producing a simple power/interest matrix, which is a good first step but can be reductive and, at times, performative. How stakeholders are mapped is a subject worthy of its own discussion.
A risk assessment and situational analysis should combine with stakeholder mapping to build a robust strategy from which a communications and engagement plan can then emerge.
Assessing the effectiveness of that plan completes a cycle of stakeholder engagement that mirrors the adaptive pathways method itself. The information is received, a plan is developed, an evaluation is conducted and the plan is refined.
In flood and coastal erosion risk management, it’s no longer enough to just build a defence. Adaptation represents a shift in mindset or an evolution of consciousness. Stakeholder engagement is the foundation upon which that evolution can take place. Are you thinking about stakeholder engagement in this way for your project or scheme?
Tom Gallagher is a stakeholder communications specialist and has over twenty years’ engagement experience from across the public and private sectors. Tom’s focus over the past seven years has been on coastal concerns, working with communities, local and central government, business groups and campaign organisations. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.