Abstract
As new environmental exposures are continuously identified, environmental influences on health are of growing concern. Knowledge regarding the impacts of environmental exposures is constantly evolving and is often incomplete. In this paper, we describe a multi-phased, multi-stakeholder engagement initiative involving diverse stakeholders with an interest in building a children's environmental health research agenda which would link with and support local practices and policies. The intent of this initiative was to identify priority research issues, themes and questions by implementing a tested Research Planning Model that encompassed the engagement of diverse stakeholders. Here, we describe the model application, which was specifically focused on children's health and the environment. A key component of the model was the ongoing stakeholder engagement process. This included two stakeholder forums, during which participants identified three main research themes (social determinants of health, environmental exposures and knowledge translation) and a short list of research questions. Other key components of the model included the development of a Global Sounding Board of key stakeholders, an Advisory Board and a Scientific Panel with mandates to review and prioritise the research questions. In our case, the Advisory Board and Scientific Panel prioritised questions that focused on environmental exposures related to children's respiratory outcomes. The stakeholder engagement described here is an evolving process with frequent changes of context, sustained by the commitment and dedication of the Children's Environment and Health Research planning team and the Advisory Board. In this article, we share the engagement process, outcomes, successes, challenges and lessons learned from this ongoing experience.
 Keywordsstakeholder engagement, children's health, environmental health, health research
Highlights
Research on children’s health and the environment explores diverse, evolving environmental factors and their effect on child development, growth and health, as well as potential solutions (Etzel et al 2012)
We describe a multi-phased, multi-stakeholder engagement initiative involving diverse stakeholders with an interest in building a children’s environmental health research agenda which would link with and support local practices and policies
The process was useful for making informed decisions on our future research direction based on valuable multistakeholder input, views and needs
Summary
Research on children’s health and the environment explores diverse, evolving environmental factors and their effect on child development, growth and health, as well as potential solutions (Etzel et al 2012). Questions for Forum 1 were intended to (1) identify, inform and clarify what the critical or priority areas of research were in children’s health and environmental issues in the province; and (2) invite interested Global Sounding Board members to become members of the Advisory Board. The role of the Scientific Panel, as outlined, was to provide scientific expertise, refine priority research questions, and support interdisciplinary research teams formed through efforts of the Advisory Board in their development and funding applications for children’s health and the environment research projects. The Advisory Board, in conjunction with ChEHC representatives, considered the questions posed by the Scientific Panel and prioritised initial areas of research guided by current provincial data on the burden of children’s disease They chose to focus on investigating exposures and exploring related morbidities in Alberta that required research. The research agenda development and application of research projects remains an ongoing process for the ChEHC and is starting to provide research results (Rodriguez-Villamizar et al 2017)
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