POLDOC-WORKSHOP, Gdansk, 26 October 2006

The importance of stakeholder dialogues in climate change adaptation

Prof. Dr. Martin Welp University of Applied Sciences Eberswalde Photo: Hannah Förster

Prof. Dr. Martin Welp Socioeconomics & Communication New International Masters Programme: Global Change Management URL: www.fh-eberswalde.de/gcm

Outline

1. Coastal management and climate change 2. Management, policy and scientific stakeholder dialogues 3. Analytical and communication tools 4. Conclusions

Source: http://www.ikzm-.de

Europe‘s coasts

• High diversity of coastal areas (from urban centres to coastal wetlands with protected areas for birds) • Many of Europe's coastal zones face problems of deterioration of their environmental, socioeconomic and cultural resources

Key coastal concerns

• Quality of coastal waters • Nature conservation • Construction activities on the coast • Coastal erosion • Tourism development • Climate change

Emerging issue: climate change

• Rising sea levels • Storm surges • Winterstorms • Coastal flooding • Air humudity Photos: National Trust, UK, Sten Suuroja

Four coastal management styles

Integrated approach

Social engineering

Excluding approach

Routine management Management as mutual learning Sector-based participatory management

Participatory approach Sectoral approach Welp 2000

Stakeholder dialogues

• Planning for adaptation as a process of mutual learning • Stakeholders include planners, decision makers, politicians, scientists, and the interested public • Finding ways to adapt to climate change • Raising awareness of climate change and coastal issues

Three types of dialogues

Type of dialogue Management dialogues Objectives Initiator / principal coordinator - participation, building consensus, conflict resolution Municipalities, planning agencies Policy dialogues Science-based dialogues - creating support for policies, building alliances, passing laws and regulations - combining knowledge bases, increasing social relevance Policy-makers, government agencies Researchers, scientific institutions, networks

Management dialogues

• Coastal zone management on local and regional level • Carried out by municipalities, sectoral agencies, etc. • Stakeholders include land owners, businesses, local interest groups etc.

EU Demonstration Programme on

• • • From 1996-1999, Information about factors that encourage or discourage ICZM Stimulating a broad debate and exchange of information among the various actors involved in the planning, management or use of European coastal zones Stakeholder consultations (seminars, written responses)

Evaluation

• Evaluation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in Europe • The results of this evaluation shall assist the European Commission • http://www.rupprecht-consult.eu/iczm/

Science-based dialogues

• A science-based stakeholder dialogue is a structured communicative process of linking scientists with selected actors who are relevant for the research problem at hand.

• These actors may be representatives of companies, NGOs, local and regional planners, government agencies, etc.

Objectives of science-based dialogues

• Bringing together different knowledge bases • Identifying socially relevant research questions • Identifying key data and parameters • ‘Reality check’ • - confronting mental models with reality • - confronting computer models with reality • Preferences, expectations and decision making rules

Tools for Dialogues

Communication tools Analytical tools

Communication tools

• • Creating settings in which stakeholders with different backgrounds can team up and learn

Examples

: Focus Groups (ULYSSES), Games and role plays (ECF family of Climate Games), Visualisation

Analytical tools

• • Structuring the problem • Identifying areas of agreement and disagreement among stakeholders

Examples

: Group model building, Bayesian belief networks, Multi-criteria Analysis

Challenges

• Limited resources (stakeholder dialogues need to be effective) • Stereotyping • Trust building takes time • Language barriers • Different working cultures • Difficulties in systems thinking

Conclusions

• We need to create safe places where the exchange of arguments is possible • A combination of communication and analytical tools is needed • We need to link scientific, policy and management dialogues • Mainstreaming

Forthcoming book

Stoll-Kleemann, S. & Welp, M. (eds.) Stakeholder Dialogues in Natural Resources Management.

Springer Environmental Sciences (November 15, 2006)

Learning for adaptation:

Dutch cow ready for sea level rise…

Thank you!

Email: [email protected]

URL: www. fh-eberswalde.de/welp