An approach for effective stakeholder engagement as an essential component of the ecosystem approach

Closing the feedback loop: on stakeholder participation in management strategy evaluation

“…Therefore, communication techniques and educational tools should be adaptive to meet the needs of the various participants (Reed 2008). For instance, representatives of NGOs are often comfortable in formal meeting settings, whereas fishermen may communicate more openly in informal arenas (e.g., boat shows or harbor cafes; Yates 2014; Lynham et al 2017;Oates and Dodds 2017). Exploring diverse meeting locations along with communication and educational tools (see Table 5) while determining the most effective mixture for each stakeholder sector ( Fig.…”

“…Emphasize mutual learning One-on-one (e.g., phone or email) Avoid jargon Summary pamphlets and educational materials Easily understood summary graphics Repetition Peer-to-peer conversations Note: Example meeting forums are given that provide differential exchanges among scientists and the myriad stakeholder groups involved in the development of an operational MSE. These suggestions were identified through analysis of the example MSE processes for Atlantic tunas, Atlantic herring, and eastern oyster and were supplemented by similar suggestions from the participatory modeling and MSE literature (e.g., Kolody et al 2008;Reed 2008;Punt et al 2016;Cox and Kronlund 2016;Oates and Dodds 2017;Sampedro et al 2017). Figure 2 demonstrates how these tools can be used synergistically to optimize participation of all stakeholders in the MSE process.…”

“…Once the MSE participants have collectively developed the terms of reference and scope of the MSE, it is useful to have the scientists, managers, and other technical experts narrow the modeling decisions to plausible and realistically implementable biological, assessment, and uncertainty scenarios to avoid overwhelming participants with too many options (Smith et al 1999;Oates and Dodds 2017). Technical decisions are often better suited for a subgroup (e.g., a technical workgroup) that includes experts in a given field (as was done in all three of the MSE examples), because requiring participants to make decisions on every aspect of the MSE can delay the entire process unnecessarily and cause stakeholders to withdraw in response to these technical discussions (Punt et al 2016).…”

Multi‐stakeholder perspectives on spatial planning processes for mariculture in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

“…The premise of the ecosystem approach (EA) stems from work undertaken throughout the 1990s, through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (UNCBD 1993;CBD Secretariat, 2000). The application of a broad-based EA is spreading as a policy-driven, science-based process for the management of all human activities, and in the marine environment the approach has as its goal the establishment of healthy and productive seas and oceans (Reum et al 2015;Gentry et al 2016;Oates & Dodds 2017). EA has progressively filtered through to fields including fisheries (Garcia et al 2003;Bianchi 2008) and marine spatial planning (Douvere 2008) and aquaculture (Soto et al 2008) under the EAA.…”

“…; Gentry et al . ; Oates & Dodds ). EA has progressively filtered through to fields including fisheries (Garcia et al .…”