Stakeholder Analysis in Marine Planning

Stakeholder participation in a collaborative, consensus-based negotiation process is a key characteristic of successful marine planning. A prerequisite to a successful collaborative process is a stakeholder analysis that identifies key characteristics of stakeholder groups to assess whether the conditions for collaboration exist. This paper describes and applies to a marine planning case study a stakeholder analysis methodology that assesses stakeholder characteristics, determines whether a collaborative stakeholder participation strategy is likely to be successful and identifies challenges that need to be addressed. The methodology uses a six step process based on a survey of stakeholders and ten criteria that affect the likelihood of success of a stakeholder process. Key criteria determining the likelihood of success include: existence of identifiable stakeholder groups that represent all relevant interests, stakeholders having good understanding of their goals and issues, stakeholders having common goals on major issues, stakeholders having trust in other stakeholders, stakeholders able and willing to participate in the process, a lead agency with the mandate to conduct the process, sufficient time, resources and information for the process, and capacity and authority to implement a stakeholder agreement. Fourteen best practice criteria are identified for managing a stakeholder process.