Multi-stakeholder Platforms Research Articles

Local mechanism of engagement in rural landscapes in the Nicaragua-Honduras sentinel landscape: examples of a local farmers' organisation and a multi-actor platform

Landscape approaches have been encouraged as a means of addressing the intricate challenges related to natural resource management and the well-being of land users/farmers. The study presents two mechanisms applied to territory development: first, a multi-stakeholder platform to improve governance in a natural reserve area (space/geographical dimension); second, how a local cooperative can become a learning network and address land-use and landscape management issues. The study evaluates the planning tool interventions of a local project, aiming to enhance landscape governance and value-chain collaboration in Nicaragua's biosphere reserve. We interviewed 403 residents and 29 cocoa cooperative members to evaluate their view of the tools/methodologies' effectiveness in natural resource management and cocoa farmers' resilience and well-being, respectively. Factorial analysis showed that the people of "Peñas Blanca" were aware of the multi-stakeholder platform managing the reserve. Generally, they had a positive opinion of the platform and its ability to balance economic and cultural values with conservation. The local cocoa cooperative has faced a financial and organisational crisis in recent years, with only a small number of members using the cooperative to sell their cocoa beans. This is due to decreased productivity and quality of the cocoa beans for some individual farmers, which impacts their ability to commercialise the beans with the cooperative. However, current access to social and cultural capital is supporting the resilience and adaptive capacity of the cocoa farmers in the territory. The studied cases provide evidence of the effectiveness of multi-sectoral and community-led organizations in integrating economic, ecological, and social objectives in a territory supporting landscape governance with sectoral approaches as valuable entry points.

Understanding communication and stakeholder learning process affecting sustainability in multi-stakeholder platforms: The case of a Learning Alliance in Vietnam

A Learning Alliance (LA) is a multi-stakeholder approach widely used by research organizations to provide a platform for technology or innovation adoption. It heavily relies on communication among varied and interacting stakeholders with shared interests. Thus, it is important to understand how these interactions play a role in forming and sustaining the network. Using the case of a LA in Can Tho province, Vietnam, we analyzed the communication processes generated in the interactions through document analysis of project materials, focus group discussions, key informant interviews with the LA facilitators, and observation notes from eight LA events. Findings reveal that communication underlies network development and maintenance. It facilitated the alignment of stakeholders’ interest and reorganization of roles, particularly when stakeholders played an intermediary role in facilitating the LA. The network also explored inclusive strategies to upgrade the rice value chain. However, challenges arose due to communication breakdown related to the strategic positioning of the LA in the broader innovation system. Furthermore, with the network's reliance on the lifespan of bilateral projects led by research institutions, hindered its long-term success. While LA foster negotiated change and inclusivity, more reflections are needed on mechanisms for local uptake, deliberate planning, and enhancement of communication roles to support the learning processes of a LA so that the network can be intentional in pursuing desired change addressing emergent challenges.

Gender Pedagogy: Developing Champion Educational Leaders in East Africa

Purpose: This study explored the landscape of educational leadership development in East Africa. It investigated its ability to equip leaders with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to promote gender-responsive and inclusive practices. Methodology: Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study collected data through surveys, interviews, and document analysis across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The participants included educational leaders, local government authorities, and other stakeholders. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were performed. Findings: The findings are as follows: Effective sensitization meetings foster shared understanding and ownership of gender-responsive initiatives, and teacher colleges can play a vital role by offering targeted training. Some knowledge gaps exist, necessitating targeted training of educational leaders and Local Government Administrators on gender responsiveness and inclusion. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy, and Practice: The study recommends establishing multi-stakeholder collaboration and dialogue platforms and designing context-specific sensitization meetings tailored to local communities and leaders. Furthermore, strengthening college support through targeted training and programs focused on gender-responsive leadership and pedagogy is necessary. Additionally, investment in training to address knowledge gaps and equip leaders with the necessary skills and tools to facilitate collaborative action research and knowledge sharing for continuous learning and improvement. By implementing these recommendations, East Africa can cultivate a generation of educational leaders who champion gender equality and inclusivity, creating more equitable and transformative learning environments.

Private sector led multi-stakeholder platforms positively influence certified common bean seed supply in Malawi

Common bean yields in Malawi remain low, primarily due to the use of low-yielding, recycled local seeds by most smallholder farmers. The low uptake of certified bean seed is attributed to limited incentives from the private sector. This study hypothesizes that the sustainable adoption of market-preferred varieties can be achieved by synchronizing and linking seed production to the grain market through committed value chain actors in a private sector-led multi-stakeholder platform. This paper examines the role of private sector-led multi-stakeholder platforms in the supply of certified common bean seed in Malawi. The research draws on both qualitative and quantitative primary data collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with key informants. Data were analyzed using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model. The results indicate that several variables representing membership in multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) significantly affect the supply of certified common bean seed. Participation in MSPs, contractual arrangements, market structure, extension services, and seed demonstrations positively influenced seed supply. The findings underscore the need for a well-coordinated multi-stakeholder platform to enhance the supply of certified common bean seed, supported by effective policies and incentives from policymakers.

Circular Economy for Fashion Waste in the Indian Fashion Industry: Challenges and Opportunities

Essential to human survival, textiles, and clothing have witnessed a meteoric rise in production and consumption worldwide, evolving from basic needs to everyday commodities. A more disposable consumer culture is evident in the projected global apparel demand of $2.6 trillion by 2025. However, a primary environmental concern—fashion waste—has emerged as an outcome of lifestyle changes. The fashion industry is the most wasteful consumer industry in the world, mainly due to its linear (take, make, and waste) model. Several solutions have been proposed to address the waste created by this industry, with the circular economy (CE) being considered the most appropriate choice. This study explores the challenges unique to the Indian fashion industry in adopting CE practices to handle textile waste. The study gathers insights from 22 industry stakeholders by adopting a qualitative approach. It offers challenges spanning political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) dimensions. The investigation emphasized that the most pressing challenge is economics, highlighting the emphasis on company profits, followed by technical and political challenges. The study recommends addressing these challenges through capacity building, clear guidelines, innovation, technological advancement, and multi-stakeholder collaboration platforms.

Backcasting supports cross-sectoral collaboration and social-technical innovation bundling: case studies in agri-food systems

There is a clear and urgent call to transform our food systems as a critical nexus to tackle ongoing global climate, biodiversity, equity, and nutrition crises. Many food and agricultural innovations are being developed and scaled but these innovations often target sector-specific problems and remain disconnected from the more complex demand for transformative change at scale. To bridge this demand for systemic change within the innovation ecosystem, initiatives are applying various approaches such as visioning, holistic assessments, innovation portfolio management and multistakeholder co-creation. Here we report on insights from applying a food systems tailored backcasting approach in a diversity of settings since 2021, including a national food system dialogue, a youth business innovation challenge, a landscape multi-stakeholder platform, a public-private sector co-learning session, an agroecological transitions program, and a hybrid food systems university course for graduate students and global professionals. We thereby build on existing literature and case studies of how change happens (or does not happen) and aim to use those insights to support food systems change makers. Across these settings, the backcasting approach asks participants to connect innovations with broader systems-change visions, to anticipate tradeoffs for multiple food system outcomes and population groups, and to cross sectoral boundaries. The use cases demonstrate that the backcasting process contributes to changes in views, practices and structures that participants work with. Specifically, it supports moving beyond “silver bullet” innovation approaches, the bundling of social and technical innovations, and building action-oriented cross-sectoral bridges. Food systems change is complex and innovations alone are insufficient to address its complexity. But innovations can play a positive role if connected to more holistic systems-change processes and goals. Considering strengths and limitations of the backcasting approach, the diversity of practical applications supports its potential to connect innovations to holistic food systems visions, to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration and to bundle social and technical innovations for desirable food systems change.

Effectiveness of behaviour change interventions to reduce the risk of faecal contamination in urban irrigated vegetable value chains – applying the COM-B behavioural framework

ABSTRACT In low- and middle-income countries, inadequate sanitation results in faecal contamination of the water used by urban farmers for irrigation. Consumers of raw contaminated vegetables run the risk of developing diarrhoeal diseases and helminth infections, which are a leading cause of under-five mortality and impact the well-being and productivity of millions of adults. This review identifies the evidence base for assessing which factors determine the success and/or failure of interventions that aim to manage the risk of faecal contamination in the urban irrigated vegetable value chain. We carried out a systematic search of the literature from the perspective of the COM-B behaviour framework (Capability + Opportunity + Motivation = Behaviour). Our results reveal that most interventions address stakeholders’ opportunity or capability to adopt safe practices without adequately considering their motivation. Interventions often focus on one sector rather than on the whole value chain (sanitation, agriculture, trade, consumption). To effectively change hygiene and food safety practices in the urban irrigated vegetable value chain, stakeholders’ intrinsic motivations need to be identified. Where WHO's multi-barrier approach is the best option, we recommend building on local multistakeholder platforms and adopting a behaviour change framework to support the largely technical change from farm to fork.

Missing the Link: Stakeholders’ Perception Towards Agriculture Academic Institutions Contribution to Integrate Research Extension and Education Institutions in Nepal

Currently, thirty Agriculture Academic Institutions (AAI) in two broad categories: constituent campuses and affiliated colleges under six universities are executing agriculture and veterinary science programs nationwide. All these universities have different course curricula, faculties, academic resources, and research & outreach capacities. Literature show that Nepalese AAIs have minimal activities to engage their graduates in communities and service learning. In this sense, AAIs are missing the opportunities to connect farming communities, enterprises and industries. Similarly, faculties of AAIs are mostly confined to classroom teaching and their competencies of engagement in the policy arena are under-utilized. Further, faculties and researchers because of their limited participation in policy engagement are missing the opportunities to share their evidence, expertise and experiences in the (Agriculture Research, Extension, and Education) AREE network. On this ground, a study was designed to capture the AREE stakeholders’ opinion that ‘Should academic institutions be a part of agriculture research, dissemination of technologies and policy engagement along with the teaching-learning activities?’ A cross-sectional perceptual survey was conducted (n=250) using a five-point Likert scale. Cross-tab analysis and one-way ANOVA were conducted to assess the difference in the stakeholders’ opinions. The reliability coefficient (0.633) was calculated using Cronbach alpha reliability methods. The findings showed that stakeholders perceived AAI should not be confined merely to teaching-learning activities. It means the stakeholders desire to review the existing mandates of education institutions and expand their roles in the tripartite functions of research extension and education. The stakeholders are not in favor of establishing an arrangement for the apex agency to integrate all of these institutions. To connect and strengthen linkage and integration between AREE institutions, classroom components should be connected with farming & business communities, and industries through service learning in community multi-stakeholder platforms.

Promoting sustainable smallholder farming systems in China

CONTEXTHundreds of millions of smallholder farmers account for 84% of farming households globally. Owing to the limited access to knowledge and resources, smallholder farming systems under sub-optimal management are facing multiple challenges such as adverse environmental impacts and difficulties in meeting growing food demand. Although substantial advanced techniques and practices have been developed, applying these practices on the ground at a large scale remains a great challenge. OBJECTIVESThis study aims to assess the sustainability of typical soil-crop management practices in order to recommend best practice bundles. The study also deploys a farmer survey in order to identify barriers hindering the adoption of sustainable practices and propose ways to overcome these barriers. METHODSTo achieve these aims, we develop a generalizable framework combining technical innovations and social realization pathway for sustainable transformation of smallholder farming systems. We apply this framework in the North China Plain as a case study, propose target-oriented practice bundles and subsequent realization roadmaps from smallholder farmer's perspectives and interests. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur results show that nitrogen reduction has the greatest positive effect on the overall sustainability of smallholder farming systems (12–14%), followed by formula fertilizer (6–10%) and optimal crop practices (2–4%). Thus, our recommended practice bundles include reducing fertilizer inputs and optimal sowing date and rate. However, our farmer survey shows that the implementation of these recommended practices faces barriers associated with economic costs, labor requirements, and farmer's preferences and acceptance. We suggest ways to overcome these barriers, including multi-stakeholder platforms better connecting smallholders, scientists, government, and industry. SIGNIFICANCEOur framework can be amended to fit different contexts and targets, therefore it can be adopted and tweaked by other regions worldwide dominated by smallholder agriculture to promote sustainable transformation.

Can multi-stakeholder platforms and dialogues facilitate the meaningful and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in managing natural resource conflicts?

Indigenous Peoples have important roles and contributions in the systematic and sustainable management of natural resources; however, their full and effective participation in the related processes, mechanisms including related multi-stakeholder platforms, and dialogues (MSPDs) are not always ensured at the national and global levels. This article focuses on the review and analysis of the published and online papers, reports on Indigenous Peoples, and their contributions and conflicts related to natural resources, especially concerning power, politics, and policies with specific examples in the Asian context. The interest-based “power sharing” and “power with governance” model is appropriate for the effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples in multi-stakeholder dialogue on natural resources.

Polycentric governance of commons through multi-stakeholder platforms: insights from two case studies in India

Polycentric governance of commons through multi-stakeholder platforms: insights from two case studies in India

Territorial food governance in the making: towards the Food Roundtable of Tuscany Region

Transition towards sustainable food systems demands a change to integrated or territorial policy approaches and boundary-spanning governance arrangements. Territorial approaches provide an effective framework to address food systems transformation at a scale where it can be tackled with the active participation of all stakeholders. The paper brings the territorial governance approach to the food governance debate and introduces the concept of participatory multi-stakeholder food platforms as arrangements to implement territorial food governance. The paper investigates the implementation of territorial food governance in Tuscany (Italy) at local level and explores the emerging attempt to scaling-up local food governance by developing a regional participatory multi-stakeholder food platform: the Regional Food Roundtable of Tuscany.

Breaking barriers to adoption: A multi-stakeholder platform approach to promoting improved common bean varieties among farmers in Malawi

Farmers’ low adoption rate of improved common bean varieties is the root cause of other challenges that stakeholders in Malawi's common bean value chain face in marketing, seed production, processing, and consumption. As a result, it is ideal to address the issue of low uptake by encouraging farmers to adopt improved varieties to make more significant contributions to the common bean value chain. The study's main objective was to assess the impact of multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) and farmers’ attitudes on the uptake of improved common bean varieties. According to the findings of the KAP survey, there is a correlation between farmers’ knowledge, attitude, and uptake of improved common bean varieties. Using a probit model, the paper discovered that farmers in the project area's intervention site had a 25% higher probability of uptake than farmers in the counterfactual site. Farmer households that were members of MSPs were more likely to participate than farmer households that were not members of any MSP. Meanwhile, farmers who were negative or neutral about the accessibility and affordability of improved common bean varieties were less likely to uptake them than those who were positive. According to the findings, farmers with a neutral attitude toward the yield potential of the improved common bean varieties had a lower probability of uptake than farmers with a positive attitude. Therefore, the study recommends MSP-based initiatives as one way to promote the uptake of improved common bean varieties.

Systemic design applied to Medtech. Guidelines for corporate training on sustainable healthcare

The purpose of this paper is using the potential of Systemic Methodology to define the contents of a sustainable training course for companies in the healthcare system. In-depth research of the current state in the art of the healthcare sector revealed the main critical points, on which to focus in order to develop project opportunities. The involvement of a cluster of companies as a reference case study, the bioPmed cluster, was crucial to properly implement the desk research. Comparing the state of the art with a tangible experience closer to the needs of MedTech companies, the training audience, was the goal of this important analysis phase. The paper is a starting point for a wider European project (Systema), which is involving international clusters and aims to realise the outputs of this research by designing a multi-stakeholder platform.

Farmer-Centred Multi-stakeholder Platforms: From Iterative Approach to Conceptual Embedding

AbstractResearch on knowledge exchange in multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) within smallholder farmer settings has primarily focused on adaptive designs and increased innovation rates. This paper addresses a knowledge gap by providing insights into the limited understanding of how knowledge sharing in MSPs can be inclusive of smallholder farmers’ knowledge. It shares experiences with a farmer-centred approach to learning and knowledge-sharing with smallholder farmers in Ghana and places this iteratively developed approach within a theoretical perspective. We relate the farmer-centred approach to five design principles inspired by human-centred design rules and inclusive development dimensions. Findings from observations, interviews, and focus group discussions illustrate how the farmer-centred approach creates multifunctional spaces for peer-to-peer learning, interaction with institutional actors, and network building (design principle 1). Prior farmer-centred research ensured that themes addressed were relevant to participant farmers and brought their innovations ‘from below’ to the table (design principles 2 and 3). A majority representation of farmers, facilitation by local researchers, and organising platform meetings at the district level created a safe space for farmers to share their knowledge and feel included and empowered (design principle 4). Several local institutional actors took ownership of the platform principles, which created opportunities for their manifestation in future collaborations with farmers (design principle 5). However, challenges remain in engaging crucial actors from higher scale levels and reducing donor dependency. The design principles presented in this paper contribute to the genuine inclusion of farmers’ knowledge and innovations. We recommend government agencies at the national and district levels incorporate these design principles into their work plans and budgets and prioritise farmers’ knowledge and innovation capacity for inclusive learning and knowledge co-creation.

Toward the concurrent self-evaluation of solidarity in platform-based development: a case study of discrepancies among technological interpretation in Japan

AbstractModern global agriculture requires an innovative trade-off and balance between crop productivity and environmental sustainability. Determining this balance requires the participatory development of farmers, although this often fails due to discrepancies. In our view, successful participatory development is based on concurrent self-evaluations that enable stakeholders to recognize discrepancies and to fairly and constructively build solidarity. This paper is aimed at identifying discrepancies in the interpretation of technologies using a case study of a multistakeholder platform used for biological soil diagnosis in Hamamatsu city, Japan. A combination of a narrative approach and the application of co-occurrence networks is taken based on the qualitative data for farmers, research experts, research institutions, and governmental agents. The analyses revealed that highly and less engaged farmers, researchers, and local governments have different interpretations of technological perfection, technological uncertainty, and technological perception. These interpretations are associated with engagement. In summary, the cognitive differences among the stakeholders of participatory projects can be objectively assessed in the form of concurrent self-evaluations using the mixed research method proposed in this paper.

Connecting Producers and Recyclers: A Digital Product Passport Concept and Implementation Suitable for End-of-Life Management

To facilitate the shift from a Linear to a Circular Economy, it is essential to alter the manner in which we manufacture, use, and dispose of products. Interoperable information exchange among various stakeholders throughout the product lifecycle is crucial if we wish to encourage reuse, repair, remanufacturing, refurbishing, or recycling. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a concept for capturing product information. This paper presents an end-to-end process for sharing product-related information along the product lifecycle explicitly designed to cater to the needs of all stakeholders, including end-of-life actors. This process is based on a DPP concept and implementation called the Digital Lifecycle Passport and a multi-stakeholder platform. Technically, it relies on the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), which enables information to be shared in a structured way. We demonstrate how this process can improve waste sorting and how it can be used for life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA results are captured in an interoperable way based on DIN SPEC 91474, which will facilitate automatic documentation for regulatory purposes in the future. Our approach is a forerunner in the sense that it uses the DPP and the AAS for end-of-life management.

Управление уровнем риска в условиях цифровой трансформации социально-экономических экосистем

For successful development, modern socio-economic ecosystems require mastering and using advanced technologies for risk management. The purpose of this study is to analyse the metho­dological problems of identifying risk factors when a business enters a socio-economic ecosystem resulting from changes in the environment characteristics and digitization of the economic space.
 In this study, the authors use the methodology and applied tools of the operational theory of risk management and systemic economic theory to investigate the risk management and identify its features. It is substantiated that socio-economic ecosystems built on digital multi-stakeholder platforms can be viewed as fundamentally new socio-technological institutions. The paper demonstrates different levels of risk management within the digital ecosystem and the emergence of a new tool  user or consumer control  in risk management.
 The paper reveals that risk management in modern socio-economic ecosystems is tightly linked to the values of the new generation of consumers: safe environment and overall socially responsible businesses.

Social equity and pluralism in Nature-based Solutions: Practitioners' perspectives on implementation

The need to include pluralistic values of nature in conservation projects, including Nature-based Solutions (NbS), has become evident, and calls for value pluralism have gained traction. However, it is unclear how this can be implemented in practice. We explore how pluralism and related social equity are incorporated by practitioners involved in the governance of NbS, analysing five cases identified as exemplary by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We develop a conceptual framework of social equity founded on five components: recognition, participation, distribution, rights, and accountability. This framework guides our analysis of primary data from in-depth interviews and secondary data from project reports. We discuss how practitioners assimilate these components in their practices and in the design of governance processes. The results indicate a strong commitment to participation and local communities’ involvement, evidenced by specific practices across the projects, although at times driven by individuals rather than institutionally. Processes were conceived to foster actor participation, including those in vulnerable positions; build local capacity and strengthen ownership. Approaches to local communities’ involvement typically begin by eliciting their views and values to design projects with ecological and social benefits. We discuss good practices, like extensive stakeholder mapping, citizen committees to represent local views, and multi-stakeholder platforms to articulate and communicate people’s views and values. The findings underscore the need for a more comprehensive governance approach following an enhanced concept of pluralism that, beside considering plural values of nature and beyond social equity, includes diverse voices, perspectives and forms of knowledge in conservation governance.

Multistakeholder platforms for integrated landscape governance: The case of Kalomo District, Zambia

Multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) that bring together a range of actors to collaboratively address land and natural resource governance issues are increasingly common in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the extent to which such platforms effectively harmonise complex social-ecological challenges and deliver improved outcomes is poorly understood. This study examines how MSPs across different scales of governance in Zambia have influenced and facilitated more integrated landscape governance. Based on literature review, policy document analysis and key informant interviews, we found that MSPs vary in form, function, influence and efficacity. Both formal and informal MSPs were found to enhance deliberative governance through the participation of key actors who contribute towards efforts to reconcile diverging and potentially conflicting interests. At the national level, MSPs benefit from broad actor presence and opportunities to lobby for policy and institutional change. Legally instituted MSPs at the district level provide a bridge between national policy development and local resource governance. Meanwhile, informal and formal local-level MSPs are strong in addressing resource conflicts and fostering community coordination and customary rules and regulations. However, local-level MSPs are less successful in influencing policy change due to weak linkages with formal governance institutions. These weak linkages between local and national governance levels have negative downward effects (i.e. poor policy performance and policies not taking root at the local level). We conclude that while MSPs offer the potential to improve stakeholder dialogue, deliberate feedback loops and enhanced linkages with other stakeholders at both district and national levels are needed to achieve more collaborative, equitable and effective landscape governance.