Stakeholders’ involvement in the planning of nature-based solutions: A network analysis approach

Abstract

Environmental planning is considered an important process to positively encourage the inclusion of nature-based solutions (NbS) in urban areas. The success of their implementation relies on the collaboration between the involved stakeholders in the environmental planning process. The aim of this study is to identify the key stakeholders within the environmental planning processes that could be considered in NbS promotion, as well as to understand their actual position in a conceptual collaboration network. Therefore, a sample of seven Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) from Romania was selected to identify the relevant stakeholders for addressing environmental challenges through the promotion of NbS. We use social network analysis (SNA) to understand the barriers and opportunities of the collaborative planning process by identifying (i) 42 distinct stakeholders classified, based on the diffusion of innovation theory, according to their interests and reasons in promoting or hindering an innovation, and (ii) 12 categories of environmental challenges. Our findings illustrate a relatively low centrality and influence of stakeholders as innovators, change agents, and transformers. Furthermore, those who have greater influence in the collaboration network and therefore those who could emphasize the use of NbS into environmental planning based on the actions from LEAPs come from the following categories of stakeholders: controllers, mainstreamers, and laggards. The environmental challenges are addressed mainly by institutional stakeholders, to the detriment of community ones. Our study highlights the necessity for collaboration to support efficient NbS integration into environmental planning processes.