Effective Stakeholder Identification across Arctic Alaska

Abstract

Abstract Stakeholder engagement is a key component of the development of projects inArctic Alaska. Identification of key stakeholders is critical to ensurethe public engagement is effective and will aid in:Collection of Traditional Knowledge used to shape the approach todevelopment;Addressing regulatory issues with local cultural, wildlife, and marinemammal commissions as well as planning boards;Developing a plan that incorporates participation in the project successthrough local employment and giving to the affected communities; andBalancing the local benefits with the burdens of project development inAlaska. This paper will be based on a review of projects in Alaska over the last 15years that have received local community acceptance based on effectivelyidentifying key stakeholders. Application: Possible applications of this information include methods for developing andcollecting key stakeholder data and ways to implement this data. This mayalso have application to other communities with similar characteristics ofInuit. Results, Observations, and Conclusions: Identifying key stakeholders and effectively addressing issues raised bythese key stakeholders can help shape acceptance of a development project inAlaska. With the stakeholder information becoming more wide-ranging andless specific, the importance of finding informed individuals and groups thatauthoritatively speak for an interest group or community can focus thestakeholder data collection effort.