Stakeholder Dialogue Research Articles

Municipalities at the crossroads: Deciphering the nexus between municipal insolvencies and international investment mandates

AbstractNavigating the convergence of domestic governance and international investment law presents multifaceted challenges in an ever‐globalizing world. The recent bankruptcy of the Birmingham City Council in September 2023, burdened by substantial debt from equal pay claims, serves as a poignant example, illustrating the potential widespread effects of local financial crises on international investment protections and obligations. The discourse explores the complexities arising from municipal insolvencies and the implications of such local fiscal policies on international investment obligations. The lens of international arbitral tribunals sheds light on the dilemmas faced when local realities vie with global responsibilities, especially concerning investor protections and Bilateral Investment Treaties. Decentralized states add another layer of intricacy, balancing regional policies with overarching international commitments. As the landscape of international investment law transforms, both state entities and investors must understand and adapt to the evolving interplay. The synthesis of these two realms is crucial in today's globalized era. Through proactive policy‐making, stakeholder dialogues, and a keen understanding of both local and global dynamics, a harmonious fusion of domestic objectives and international obligations can be achieved.

Technology availability, sector policies and behavioral change are complementary strategies for achieving net-zero emissions

In this study, we analyze the effects of technology availability, political coordination, and behavioral change on transformation pathways toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 2050. We implemented an iterative stakeholder dialogue to co-design the scenarios that were calculated using a global multi-regional energy-economy-land-climate model. We find that in scenarios without behavioral change and with restriction of technologies, the target of greenhouse gas neutrality in the European Union cannot be reached. Already a target of 200 Mt CO2eq/yr requires CO2 prices above 100 €/tCO2 in 2030 across all sectors in all scenarios. The required CO2 price can increase to up to 450 €/tCO2 by 2030 if technologies are constrained, if no complementary regulatory measures are implemented, and if changes in consumer behavior towards a more sustainable lifestyle do not materialize.

Orchestrated Stakeholder Dialogue: Place in Dynamic Capability Theory and Strategic Significance

Orchestrated Stakeholder Dialogue: Place in Dynamic Capability Theory and Strategic Significance

Gray legality: Varying degrees of housing illegality in Berlin’s rental cap

This study aims to understand how housing legality is negotiated and contextually constructed by investigating the highly regulated German context of Berlin. It investigates the varying tenants’ experiences affected by the enforcement and abolition of the city’s rental cap law (Berliner Mietendeckel-Geset), implemented between February 2020 and April 2021. The article frames the case study of Berlin in the context of legality and develops a typology of legal and illegal practices within this case. Through collecting data from 19 tenants using semi-structured interviews to identify recurring narratives and experiences, the article explores how legality is negotiated and socially constructed. The results suggest that a spectrum of gray legality emerges from these negotiations, breaking the binary view of legality in the Global North. This spectrum covers legality, semi-legality, semi-illegality, and illegality. Gray legality refers to incidents where it becomes hard to judge the complete adherence or lack of compliance with a law. Hence, this article contributes to understanding illegality as a state–society relationship defined not only by laws and regulations but also by publicly accepted practices and the often-untraceable stakeholder negotiations.

The Disenfranchisement of Practitioners and the Public Sector in Innovative Urban Farming in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from Nigeria

Innovative urban farming is crucial for enhancing food security, nutrition, livelihood resilience, and environmental sustainability in Sub-Saharan African cities. However, agricultural policies and extension services often overlook urban contexts, presumably due to resource constraints. Yet, to improve productivity, understanding the challenges and opportunities of innovative urban farming is essential. Exploratory qualitative research, including focus group discussions, was conducted in, Lagos, Nigeria, to gather insights from stakeholders. The analysis, using mind maps and a consensus index, compared the perspectives of private urban farmers and public sector representatives. The urban farmers recognize the potential of circular agri-food technologies, like hydroponics, aquaponics, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), drip irrigation, sack farming, and waste upcycling, to boost productivity. However, the urban farmers perceive a lack of public sector support for these innovations. The public sector representatives see the problem as urban farmers’ behavioral and educational shortcomings, particularly their lack of coordination and commitment to adopting innovations. These differing views highlight the complex dynamics between urban farmers and local agricultural policymakers. This study emphasizes the need for structural changes and local-level stakeholder dialogues for developing effective urban farming policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Perspectives on reasons why football and handball players sustain acute and severe knee injuries: a mixed-methods concept mapping study

BackgroundThe high incidence of knee injuries in football/handball challenges effective prevention. Identifying tangible and modifiable factors associated with a knee injury may innovate preventive actions. Engaging key stakeholders can reveal...

Global Water Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and how to strengthen science-policy dialogues on transboundary governance and cooperation

The United Nations Water Conference 2023 highlighted the need for concrete actions to boost integrated water resources management for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and called for strategies to enhance cooperation among stakeholders. Technical cooperation between countries and institutions in transboundary systems, e.g., on environmental data collection, is an effective way to promote international diplomacy and prevent disputes between riparian states. Still, establishing collaborations to inform bilateral dialogues on the identification of environmental challenges, their causes, and development priorities may be a difficult task in itself. This is particularly true in the African context because of limited resources and lack of data. In this paper, we analyse the case of nine transboundary river basins in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify which water-management challenges are perceived as most important by the different riparian countries from a policy and scientific perspective. Our insights are based on the most up-to-date scientific papers, open access reports and technical literature, river basin authority’s strategy papers, projects’ summary reports, and national policy documents. We also complement these sources with the pieces of information we gained through collaborations with regional and local experts, and management bodies (such as river basin authorities). We highlight the current water-related conflicts and the gap between the priorities identified by the scientific community and different riparian countries on how to tackle hydro-climatic change and improve food and energy security, human and environmental health. Based on our experience, we discuss some keys to building trust among stakeholders, strengthening cooperation, and identifying shared water-governance measures in transboundary river basins. They are: (i) connect science and policy to provide sound knowledge for the right questions, (ii) value local knowledge and exploit the complementarity of different perspectives, (iii) consider multiple spatial scales and multi-level stakeholders to leave no one behind, (iv) promote a culture which values trade-offs and handles complexity, and (v) co-create data and knowledge to facilitate stakeholder dialogue from problem definition to intervention identification.

Stakeholders, stakeholder theory and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Complacency is almost archaic in the knowledge economy, because firms are overwhelmingly confronted with diverse expectations from better informed stakeholders, who pressure on societal issues amid shareholders’ calls for greater financial security. Similarly, there is a growing call for corporations to redefine their responsibilities to stakeholders, and to integrate socio-economic and environmental concerns into business processes and strategies in order to transparently impact on societies. In a bid to support mutually beneficial relationships, this paper shows how stakeholder theory proactively moderates the strength of CSR in social interactions, environmental protection, and sustainable development. It proposes a four-stage stakeholder dialogue ladder which attempts to synergize CSR, stakeholder and stakeholder theory based on the stages as defined by the firm’s extent of development, and her regularity and intensity of interaction with stakeholders. The paper argues that subject to the problem to solve, the languages of CSR and stakeholder theory are useful and that, the dichotomies of covering wrongdoing and creating falsehoods could be addressed when firms adopt stakeholder dialogue and collaboration that aid friendly CSR programmes. Thus, the relationship turns that of dyadic partnership, because corporations follow issue or purpose-based CSR programmes that create values that trickle to interdependent stakeholders. In sum, corporations need to continually get committed to environmentally-sensitive CSR since there is a strong relationship between CSR activities, stakeholders and actual performance.

Supporting stakeholder dialogue on ecosystem service tradeoffs with a simulation tool for land use configuration effects

Various approaches are available to assist stakeholders in identifying and resolving ecosystem service tradeoffs. However, existing tools fall short in simulating land use configuration effects on ecosystem services and subsequently making these effects accessible to users with varying levels of expertise. To address this gap, we introduce PLACES, a tool that estimates land use impacts on multiple ecosystem services by incorporating landscape-level processes. Tool results are provided in real-time and visualized to support a dialogue between different stakeholders. This study presents the tool development and application during a mixed stakeholder workshop, after which mental models, questionnaires, and videos were analyzed to evaluate PLACES. The tool increased the participants’ understanding of insights of spatial processes and sparked discussions on the societal goals for sustainable landscapes. For future applications of PLACES, we encourage careful tailoring of the landscape representation and land use impact simulations to match the knowledge of the respective users.

Enhancing the delivery of comprehensive care for people living with HIV in Canada: insights from citizen panels and a national stakeholder dialogue.

People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are living longer with health-related disability associated with ageing, including complex conditions. However, health systems in Canada have not adapted to meet these comprehensive care needs. We convened three citizen panels and a national stakeholder dialogue. The panels were informed by a plain-language citizen brief that outlined data and evidence about the challenge/problem, elements of an approach for addressing it and implementation considerations. The national dialogue was informed by a more detailed version of the same brief that included a thematic analysis of the findings from the panels. The 31 citizen panel participants emphasized the need for more prevention, testing and social supports, increased public education to address stigma and access to more timely data to inform system changes. The 21 system leaders emphasized the need to enhance person-centred care and for implementing learning and improvement across provinces, territories and Indigenous communities. Citizens and system leaders highlighted that policy actions need to acknowledge that HIV remains unique among conditions faced by Canadians. Action will require a national learning collaborative to support spread and scale of successful prevention, care and support initiatives. Such a collaborative should be grounded in a rapid-learning and improvement approach that is anchored on the needs, perspectives and aspirations of people living with HIV; driven by timely data and evidence; supported by appropriate decision supports and aligned governance, financial and delivery arrangements; and enabled with a culture of and competencies for rapid learning and improvement.

How – and How Much? An Analysis of Major Conflict Lines Regarding the Transformation of German Animal Farming

Based on the concept of a 'future workshop', this paper contributes to the understanding of major conflict lines and future pathways for animal farming in Germany. Participants in the future workshop were tasked with outlining their ideal vision of the future of animal farming, focusing on both its mode and quantity. We found three different types of visions differing in their motivation, farming methods, and the scale of envisioned animal farming: ‘Higher Standards’ (V1), ‘System Change and Reduction’ (V2), ‘Alternatives to Animal Farming’ (V3). V1 seeks to secure the quantities of supply and demand of animal products in Germany with minor adjustments towards improved animal welfare and investments in resource-efficiency and climate friendliness. V2 advocates for comprehensive social and environmental systemic changes throughout the agri-food sector, with substantially fewer animals involved. V3 aims to replace animal farming, with plant-based and other alternatives, whenever and wherever possible. Our findings suggest that there is little ground for a societal consensus on a single future mode and scale of animal farming. Stakeholder dialogues and policy initiatives should therefore allow for different pathways while focusing on compromises in the near future. Short-term solutions may be acceptable to supporters of all three visions, however, achieving this requires reframing the debate from ‘securing the future of animal farming’ to ‘guiding the future of animal farming’, acknowledging the potential – albeit partly – replacement of animal farming by suitable alternatives.

Ensuring universal access to quality care for persons with presumed tuberculosis reaching the private sector: lessons from Kerala.

More than half of the people with Tuberculosis (TB) symptoms in India seek care from the private sector. People with TB getting treatment from private sector in India are considered to be at a higher risk for receiving suboptimal quality of care in terms of incorrect diagnosis and treatment, lack of treatment adherence support with a high loss to follow-up rate that could eventually increase their risk of drug resistance. The current study aims at documenting the approach and efforts taken by the Kerala state to partner with theprivate health care delivery providers for ensuring quality TB care to the people with presumed TB reaching them. A case study approach was adopted with review of all available literature followed by five Key Informant Interviews to understand the case through a primary descriptive exploration. Grounded theory approach was used to generating the single theory of the case itself that explains it. Kerala state has taken a variety of interventions to ensure universal access to TB care for citizens reaching the private sector with documented improvement in the quality of TB care. Key learnings from these initiatives were (i) patients need to be at the centre of partnerships, (ii) good governance is essential for ensuring Universal Health Coverage in a mixed health system, (iii) data intelligence is required to guide partnerships, (iv) identification of the correct 'problems' is crucial for effective design of partnerships and (v) a platform for meaningful dialogue of key stakeholders is needed. Kerala experience demonstrated that if governments take a proactive role in engaging the private sector, in an informed and evidence-based way, they can leverage the advantages of the private sector while protecting the public health interest.

How useful is setting safety goals?

The study explores the multifaceted role of safety goals in fostering a risk-informed culture, reflecting the global experience within the nuclear safety domain. Analysis of the phases of transition evoked by establishing and applying safety goals sheds light on the need for epistemic, reflexive, and practical transitions for better management of nuclear safety. This pivotal role of safety goals underscores the importance of recognizing them not as ready-to-use turnkey products but as catalysts for stakeholder dialog, reassessment of existing safety paradigms, and regulatory framework refinement. Finally, this study explores the challenges associated with standardizing safety goals globally and navigating the transition process within the framework of transition management.

Use of spatial information to remove barriers and to foster enablers of uptake of Nature Based Solutions for food production and water resource management in Ghana and the Netherlands

Water related problems caused by climate change are threatening the future of food systems in both Netherlands and Ghana. In this paper we present the results of a comparative case study analysis. The objective is identifying similarities in the use of spatial information by experts and stakeholders in their attempts to remove the barriers or foster the enablers of NbS uptake in view of climate change. Experiences in this field have been listed in the Rhine-Scheldt Estuaries (the Netherlands) and Bono East Region (Ghana) about rainwater harvesting and reuse of wastewater. The analysis focused on identifying similarities in the use of spatial information by stakeholders in their attempts to remove the barriers or foster the enablers of NBS uptake. Both rainwater harvesting and wastewater treatment techniques are available, and ready to be accepted and applied by farmers and food processing industry. Their uptake however is hampered by multiple barriers, ranging from biophysical and technical barriers to social and institutional barriers. We conclude that spatial information can be an enabler for adoption of nature-based solutions, if the spatial information is applicable for the assessment of a wide range of possible solutions for water scarcity considering food production, either nature-based solutions or technologies. In both case studies we observe a struggle to make the future spatially explicit. In both case studies, the effect on biodiversity of respectively reuse of effluent water and RWH did not play a direct role in the stakeholder dialogue.

Implementing a stakeholder capitalism approach through values-based leadership: case studies in the private, nonprofit and educational sectors

Purpose Stakeholder capitalism has gained attention among business practitioners and academia, often discussed within the context of corporate social responsibility, ethical practices and values-based leadership. Many societal institutions, including businesses and higher education institutions, have a role to play in the transition toward stakeholder capitalism. This study aims to discuss insights gained from a multiyear research and pedagogical project coordinated among a group of academics and an Israel-based holding company to study the implementation of a values-based leadership process focused on establishing a stakeholder-oriented model in a variety of organizations. Design/methodology/approach Conducted over a decadal period, this project relied on a qualitative case study methodology. The project was conceived as an exploratory and inductive study examining organizations that implemented a values-based leadership model and a university that used this model for curriculum and pedagogy. Semi-structured interviews, observations of leadership practices and operations, and substantive reviews of organizational documents informed the study’s iterative methodology. Findings The case studies presented explore the benefits of a stakeholder capitalism and values-based leadership transformation in organizations and highlight the importance of senior leadership engagement at the outset to set the tone and direction of implementation while also role modeling values-based behaviors for the organization. The utility of aligning the new values-based approach with existing elements of the organizational culture and priorities was also identified in addition to the benefit of individuals linking the new values initiative to their personal values and life. These practices, and a broader stakeholder dialogue on values, helped establish a transition that was inclusive within the organizational hierarchy and in its connections to the larger society. The cases also explored how stakeholder principles and values-based leadership models can be integrated into management education based on the outcomes of the organizational investigations. Originality/value These case studies offer insight into the implementation of a values-based leadership framework, which draws on stakeholder theory, in diverse organizations across a for-profit to non-profit spectrum. These studies also provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the implementation of a common values framework in different sectors. The cases further highlight the potential role of business-education sectoral partnerships in educating a workforce that is dedicated to business for good.

Maritime Piracy and its Implications on Security in the Gulf of Guinea

The purpose of the study is to determine how piracy poses security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea. Document analysis method was used to analyse literature related to piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The theory employed is the securitization of pioneered by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde (1990). Also, a retrospective cohort design is used for the study. The findings of the study revealed that the domestication of the Code of Conduct and other legal frameworks will ensure that national laws align with international maritime laws and provide a legal basis for addressing maritime crimes, including piracy. The proffered recommendation is that the government should actively engage pirates and other stakeholders in dialogue and contribute significant resources to ameliorate the environmental and economic damage caused by the oil industry.

Barriers to and facilitators for the creation, dissemination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of oral health policies in the WHO Africa region: A scoping review protocol.

Evidence-informed oral health policies (OHP) can be instrumental in ending the neglect of oral health globally. When appropriately developed and implemented, OHP can improve the efficiency of healthcare systems and the quality of health outcomes. However, more than half of the countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) African region do not have an oral health policy or even the existence of a policy in need of additional and more national-specific OHP as part of non-communicable diseases and universal health coverage agendas. The objective of this protocol's study is to determine the barriers to and facilitators for the creation, dissemination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of OHP in the WHO Africa region. We will conduct a systematic search in Global Health, Embase, PubMed, PAIS, ABI/Inform, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Scopus, databases that index gray literature, and the WHO policy repositories. We will include qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research studies and OHP documents published since January 1, 2002, which address stakeholders' perceptions and experiences regarding barriers to and facilitators for the creation, dissemination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of OHP in countries part of the WHO African region. We will produce descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) for quantitative data and conduct descriptive content analysis for qualitative data. To effectively establish evidence-based OHP in the WHO African region, it is crucial to recognize existing challenges and opportunities for progress. The findings of this review will be relevant for Chief Dental Officers at ministries of health, administrators of dental schools, or academic institutions in the WHO African region and will inform a stakeholder dialogue meeting in Kenya in November of 2023. Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9KMWR.

The Chilean Laja Lake: multi-objective analysis of conflicting water demands and the added value of optimization strategies

Abstract Water scarcity leads to conflicts over water allocation. Laja Lake in Chile is a natural lake, which was formed by a volcanic barrier. Outflow from the lake is created by seepage through the barrier and via a controllable artificial outlet, which adds reservoir characteristics to the lake. Hydroelectric power stations have been built at both outlets. Downstream, water is diverted into irrigation canals, and the Laja River forms the Laja Falls, a popular tourist attraction. The previous operating policy preferred the most upstream water user and was found to be inadequate because the lake level decreased over long term. The current reservoir operation policy was established through stakeholder negotiations. This study investigated whether optimization (using Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) can further improve the operation of Laja Lake while maintaining a fair balance between stakeholder groups. The results were compared with the stakeholder agreement and the previous policy. The main difference is in the spring, when Laja Lake fills up before the irrigation season starts. The optimization strategy prioritizes hydropower generation during this period, resulting in reduced storage. Ultimately, optimization proves to be a valuable tool for identifying trade-offs and exploring different scenarios in water management.

University-led dialogues with society: balancing informing and listening?

In response to a growing understanding that scientific knowledge is not always trusted at face value, many universities organise dialogues to `open up' to society. In four exploratory case studies at the Dutch Wageningen University & Research, we looked into the adherence to dialogue principles and the roles that researchers performed while engaging in dialogues. We found that researchers face three challenges when interacting with societal stakeholders in dialogues: (1) moving from knowledge provider to “letting in” and listening to different perspectives (2) balancing attention toward knowledge with attention toward values and emotions (3) navigating different aspired and perceived roles of researchers in dialogue (e.g. Pure Scientist versus Issue Advocate).

Dealing with risk in stakeholder dialog: identification of risk indicators in a public service media organization's conversation and discourse with citizens

PurposeThis study operationalizes risks in stakeholder dialog (SD). It conceptualizes SD as co-produced organizational discourse and examines the capacities of organizers' and stakeholders' practices to create a shared understanding of an organization’s risks to their mutual benefit. The meetings and online forum of a German public service media (PSM) organization were used as a case study.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied corpus-driven linguistic discourse analysis (topic modeling) to analyze citizens' (n = 2,452) forum posts (n = 14,744). Conversation analysis was used to examine video-recorded online meetings.FindingsOrganizers suspended actors' reciprocity in meetings. In the forums, topics emerged autonomously. Citizens' articulation of their identities was more diverse than the categories the organizer provided, and organizers did not respond to the autonomous emergence of contextualizations of citizens' perceptions of PSM performance in relation to their identities. The results suggest that risks arise from interactionally achieved occasions that prevent reasoned agreement and from actors' practices, which constituted autonomous discursive formations of topics and identities in the forums.Originality/valueThis study disentangles actors' practices, mutuality orientation and risk enactment during SD. It advances the methodological knowledge of strategic communication research on SD, utilizing social constructivist research methods to examine the contingencies of organization-stakeholder interaction in SD.