 Challenges Of Forming An Interdisciplinary Team: Identifying Key Stakeholders and Groups
The critical component to effective public information and
involvement is identifying and forming relationships with
key stakeholders and groups. To do so, a project team must
discover:
-- who perceives they will benefit from the project,
-- who perceives they will be impacted by the project, and
-- who in the community has been actively involved in similar
projects.
When it comes to siting facilities, perception is reality.
The project team must look beyond those directly affected
and look at those who feel they have a stake in the project
and who feel they may be affected.
For example, when Tampa Bay Water received proposals for
a 25-million-gallon-per-day seawater desalination facility,
the project team identified stakeholders by applying a number
of criteria:
Proximity to proposed project sites – Included residents
living near the potential sites, nearby businesses and local
homeowners associations.
Economic benefit/impact – Included chambers of commerce,
regional economic development agencies, the power companies
near which the plants were proposed, local fishermen who were
concerned about impacts to their businesses, and members of
the sponge industry, also concerned about impacts to their
businesses.
Past involvement with similar issues – Included those
who were actively involved in a local contamination issue
near one proposed site and those involved in other water issues.
Elected officials – Those in the communities in which
the projects were proposed as well as those on the Tampa Bay
Water board of directors and member governments.
Utility personnel – Included member government utility
personnel as well as utility personnel of the city or county
in which the projects were proposed.
Local, regional and national media – Local media was
helpful in keeping the community informed, while regional
and national media told the story to a larger audience.
Regulatory agencies – Included regional and state agencies
who would ultimately permit the project.
Asking stakeholders and citizens who else the team should
contact is also helpful in identifying stakeholders.
Forming Relationships
|
