2.2.1 Why conduct a stakeholder analysis?
In the context of the WEFe Framework 2.0, stakeholder analysis is an important tool to support the systematic and constructive involvement of stakeholders throughout and beyond the application of the framework in the focal area.
Stakeholder analysis helps:
- Identify the key actors in the focal area, ensuring that important stakeholders are not overlooked or insufficiently engaged.
- Supports the design of tailored strategies for meaningful and effective stakeholder participation.
- Further minimise disputes between different target groups and help resolve conflicts by creating room for dialogue among them.
In the context of the WEFe nexus, important stakeholders include:
- Farmers, water managers and utilities (water and wastewater treatment and reuse)
- Energy producers and providers
- Ecosystem managers
- Public sector agencies, government, agri-businesses, distribution chains, civil society organisations and researchers/experts.
Identifying key stakeholders in the WEFe Framework 2.0 also has its risks and limitations:
- If the stakeholder analysis is incomplete, such as missing key actors or over-representing certain groups, there is a risk that the entire research process, including its outcomes (i.e., the identified intervention), may become biased or unacceptable to some stakeholders.
- The process can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, potentially delaying the progress in the framework implementation.
The main result of the stakeholder analysis is the completed table 2.1 in 2.2.2.
The table will be crucial for the next phases of the WEFe Framework 2.0: identified stakeholders will be invited to the different stakeholder workshops, or approached for other types of data collection. If many stakeholders are identified, the focus will be on the most important ones (right column). Depending on how the application of the WEFe Framework 2.0 evolves, new stakeholders may be added to the list, or some actors may be considered to be dropped.
Stakeholder analysis serves as the foundation for the next steps to come. Missing key stakeholders may have important implications for the legitimacy of next steps and the whole framework implementation.