Develop guidelines for stakeholder involvement in NBS projects
Guidelines on how to design and conduct good stakeholder involvement in NBS projects can improve and streamline these processes, and that they become a routine in NBS projects in the long-term.
Specific Advice
Similar to requiring public consultation for projects considering the environment, stakeholder engagement should be mandatory for any NBS project. Recommendations or guidelines for stakeholder involvement should be directed at local and regional authorities, NGOs or businesses engaging in a NBS project.
The guidelines should include appropriate methods and tools for stakeholder mapping and identification, selecting appropriate processes and ways to engage them tailored to the local context, methods to ensure diversification of stakeholder groups and representation of all key stakeholders, and strategies for keeping the stakeholders engaged.
Structured involvement may include defining the aim for stakeholder engagement and its outcomes, which includes identifying key stakeholders and methods for engagement, ways of communicating the impacts of their contribution and methods for participant retention. Guidelines can contribute to setting a set of “good practices of involvement” and have the potential to become a routine procedure for any future NBS project.
Good to Know
Structured stakeholder engagement during NBS development can increase awareness about NBS and urban nature, as well as their environmental, social and economic co-benefits in all quadruple helix stakeholders (academia, industry, government and citizens).
It might be challenging to consider and implement opinions from all stakeholders. Some stakeholders will have conflicting priorities and/or interests which will impact identification of challenges and the vision for addressing them.
Other barriers to stakeholder collaboration include time, funding and diversity of stakeholder groups.
Consider developing the guidelines with input or feedback from multiple stakeholders.
Context
Co-creation and structured stakeholder involvement are core principles of NBS as a concept. This is also reflected in the IUCN global standard criterion 5 that “NBS are based on inclusive, transparent and empowering governance processes”. Prioritizing stakeholder engagement is also a clear recommendation from previous Nordic NBS projects. Stakeholder collaboration and citizen engagement can and have been used for example for increasing policy support and legitimacy of climate change adaptation activities as well as communicating measures that directly impact private land.
Developing guidelines for stakeholder involvement will help to identify and engage the stakeholders in a structured and meaningful way during planning, design, implementation, monitoring and maintenance stages of NBS projects. Recommendations for stakeholder involvement and collaboration address multiple contexts and barriers to NBS mainstreaming, for example the lack of cohesion and stakeholder engagement, silos in public administrations and lack of knowledge and awareness.
Recommendations or guidelines will eliminate any doubts regarding the ways to initiate the engagement and provide grounds for starting to map and identifying relevant stakeholder groups. Recommendations can also help address potential conflicts of interest between different stakeholders and help identify and give voice to marginalised groups. Stakeholder networks created as a result of engagement can further amplify transfer of knowledge, but also best practices as well as raising awareness. Structured engagement may further encourage more active stakeholder participation in climate policy action and promoting NBS.
Examples and Cases
Nordic example of developing guidelines for stakeholder involvement in NBS projects:
#FINLAND – Recommendations for citizen science and public participation in approval of plans
Finland is committed to promoting open science which is coordinated by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Citizen science has been acknowledged to promote open science and to support its implementation, the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies released recommendations for citizen science in 2022 which target aspects such as minimum and optional requirements for visibility, funding, training and support as well as evaluation of citizen science initiatives.
Legally, the Act on the assessment of the environmental effects of public authorities' plans and programs (Laki viranomaisten suunnitelmien ja ohjelmien ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnista) additionally promotes the public's access to information and opportunities for participation in the assessment of environmental impacts in the preparation and approval of the authorities' plans and programs. The authority responsible for the plan or programme is required to provide the public with access to and give its opinion to the draft plan or environmental programme and environmental report. This improves access to information and possibility to influence climate policy. Similar obligations could enforce stakeholder mapping and engagement to be mandatory for any NBS project.
More information about the Finnish recommendations for citizen science here:
The Act on the assessment of the environmental effects of public authorities' plans and programs [Laki viranomaisten suunnitelmien ja ohjelmien ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnista]: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2005/20050200
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Recommendations for citizen science: https://doi.org/10.23847/tsv.445
Citizen science in Finland: https://libguides.tuni.fi/citizen-science/in-finland
Learn more
Stakeholder Engagement Guide for Nature-Based Solutions
published by the United Nations CEO Water Mandate and Pacific Institute outlines guidelines, best practices and key principles for broad stakeholder engagement for NBS projects including views on promoting inclusive and equitable relationships. https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CEOWater_SEG_Final.pdfLiving Lab Handbook for Urban Living Labs Developing Nature-Based Solutions
published within Horizon 2020 UNaLab project aims to provide guidance on how to develop and run an Urban Living Lab based on the experiences from the cities in the H2020 UNaLab project. https://unalab.eu/system/files/2020-07/living-lab-handbook2020-07-09.pdfGuidelines for Citizen Engagement and the Co-Creation of Nature-Based Solutions: Living Knowledge in the URBiNAT Project
discusses the development of guidelines for citizen engagement and the co-creation of NBS with a focus on urban regeneration in the H2020 URBiNAT project. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313378Guidelines for co-creation and co-governance of nature-based solutions - Insights from EU-funded projects.
This is a report that analyses co-creation and co-governance approaches for NBS in different stages and across European contexts. It also provides guidelines for inclusive practices. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/dd7b9f43-9a33-11ee-b164-01aa75ed71a1International Obligations
SDG 16
“Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” “Restore, maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, such as regulation of air, water, and climate, soil health, pollination and reduction of disease risk, as well as protection from natural hazards and disasters, through nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches for the benefit of all people and nature.”
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, target 14
“Ensure the full integration of biodiversity and its multiple values into policies, regulations, planning and development processes, poverty eradication strategies, strategic environmental assessments, environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, national accounting, within and across all levels of government and across all sectors, in particular those with significant impacts on biodiversity, progressively aligning all relevant public and private activities, fiscal and financial flows with the goals and targets of this framework.” EU Adaptation Strategy
: “More systemic adaptation: Supporting policy development at all levels and all relevant policy fields; including three cross-cutting priorities to integrate adaptation into: macro-fiscal policy; nature-based solutions; and local adaptation actions.” https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/eu-adaptation-policy/strategyEU Green Deal
“It also aims to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. At the same time, this transition must be just and inclusive. It must put people first, and pay attention to the regions, industries and workers who will face the greatest challenges. Since it will bring substantial change, active public participation and confidence in the transition is paramount if policies are to work and be accepted. A new pact is needed to bring together citizens in all their diversity, with national, regional, local authorities, civil society and industry working closely with the EU’s institutions and consultative bodies.”