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Thematic Group

Stakeholder Involvement

Background & Scoping Paper

DRAFT

V1 – April 2015

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Contents

About this paper ........................................................................................................................................... 3

I. Overall scope and specific objectives of the Thematic Group.............................................................. 3

II. TG activities, members and method .................................................................................................... 4

III. How the TG fits into the wider ENRD activities ................................................................................... 5

IV. Expected outcomes & their dissemination .......................................................................................... 7

Annex I: Key stages in the ENRD Thematic Work on Stakeholder Involvement ...................................... 10

Annex II: Proposed Structure of the Thematic Group Report ................................................................... 11

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About this paper

This scoping paper aims to:

i) summarise the outcomes of the work of the Thematic Group (TG) to date, as well as planned final activities and outcomes;

ii) provide a conceptual framework for the final report of the TG (that aims to inform the work of ENRD in the coming years);

iii) describe how the work of the TG fits into and contributes to the overall work of the ENRD Contact Point.

It builds on the preliminary working documents outlining the operations of the TG1, the

outcomes of the first meeting of the EU Rural Networks’ Assembly2 (26 January 2015), the

outcomes of the 1st TG meeting (12 February 2015), the 1st ENRD seminar on Stakeholder

Involvement3 and the 2nd TG meeting.

I. Overall scope and specific objectives of the Thematic Group

“Increasing the involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of rural development” is

one of the common objectives of National Rural Networks (NRNs) and the European

Network for Rural Development (ENRD).

The overall objective of the Thematic Group (TG) on ‘Stakeholder involvement’ is to improve

the understanding on stakeholder involvement in rural development and the capacity of

networking as a tool to contribute to this.

Within this scope, the thematic group’s specific objectives are to:

Identify the main themes and issues where stakeholder involvement can improve

rural development policy.

Identify useful methods, tools and approaches on effective stakeholder involvement

at policy, local planning and project levels.

Identify areas where networking can improve stakeholder involvement in rural

development policy formulation and implementation.

Identify and raise awareness of common barriers and challenges to stakeholder

involvement and possible ways to overcome these.

1 ‘Indicative work plan for the Thematic Group on Stakeholder involvement' (internal working document, 01.12.14); ‘TG Stakeholder Involvement – Summary for RN Assembly’ (circulated at the RN Assembly Meeting of 26.01.15). 2 http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/rural-network-assembly-%E2%80%93-26-january-2015-%E2%80%93-brussels-be 3 http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/enrd-%E2%80%98stakeholder-involvement%E2%80%99-seminar-26-march-2015-brussels-be

http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/rural-network-assembly-%E2%80%93-26-january-2015-%E2%80%93-brussels-behttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/rural-network-assembly-%E2%80%93-26-january-2015-%E2%80%93-brussels-behttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/enrd-%E2%80%98stakeholder-involvement%E2%80%99-seminar-26-march-2015-brussels-behttp://enrd.ec.europa.eu/en/en-rd-events-and-meetings/enrd-%E2%80%98stakeholder-involvement%E2%80%99-seminar-26-march-2015-brussels-be

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Provide European Networks and NRNs with recommendations and examples on how to involve stakeholders more effectively in rural development.

II. TG activities, members and method

TG activites to date

A number of activities were carried in preparation for and in the framework of the Thematic

Group as presented below.

Prepratory interviews with key European stakeholder organisations

The ENRD Contact Point (CP) carried out 8 interviews with selected European Stakeholder Organisations in order to identify key issues and stakeholder needs in agriculture, environment and territorial development.

Announcement of the TG & prepration/distribution of TG information fiche

The Thematic Group was announced during the 1st Rural Networks Assembly meeting on 26 January 2015. During the event an information fiche entitled the ‘Thematic Work of the ENRD Contact Point on Better engagement of stakeholders in rural development’ was distributed.

1st TG meeting The aim of the 1st TG meeting was to identify main issues and

topics for the 1st ENRD Seminar on Stakeholder Involvement

in discussion with the TG meeting participants.

2nd TG meeting The aim of the 2nd TG meeting was to analyse and discuss the outcomes of the 1st ENRD Seminar with specific focus on developing initial recommendations for networks on stakeholder involvement.

Upcoming activities

Based on the outcomes of the TG activities to date:

A draft TG report will be prepared (see proposed structure in Annex II);

The 3rd TG meeting will be held on the 28 May 2015, with the aim to discuss the draft TG report and make suggestions for final refinements;

Based on the outcome of the 3rd TG meeting a final report will be prepared.

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TG members & working method

The work of the TG has been based on exchanging views and experience among key rural

development stakeholders in the framework of working meetings. It was envisaged that

members would include ‘grassroots’ stakeholders, as well as European and national

stakeholder organisations, Managing Authorities, NRNs and other stakeholders interested

and involved in rural development policy.

The membership of the TG was open and voluntary. The membership of the TG evolved

over time in order to accommodate the interest and availability of stakeholders:

Invitations for the 1st TG meeting were sent to the Rural Networks Assembly

representatives of the Civil Dialogue Group (CDG) European Organisations and

Rural Network Support Units (NSU) in all Member States. 9 stakeholder

representatives and 3 NSU representatives joined the 1st TG meeting.

The 2nd TG meeting was organised back-to-back with the 1st ENRD Seminar on

Stakeholder Involvement and a joint invitation was sent for both events. Due to the

large interest, a balanced set of representatives were selected among those who

registered, including 14 grassroot stakeholders (out of which 12 attended the

meeting), 6 European stakeholder representatives (out of which 3 attended the

meeting) and 10 NSU and/or Managing Authority representatives (out of which 6

attended the meeting).

Invitations for the 3rd TG meeting will be sent out to those who attended either the

1st or the 2nd TG meeting in order to ensure continuity.

III. How the TG fits into the wider ENRD activities

The ENRD integrated work package on Stakeholder Involvement

Thematic Group activities were carried out as part of the wider ENRD Integrated Work

Package on Stakeholder Involvement. The ENRD tools use different methodology, and they

build on and feed into each other in an integrated way (as presented in the chart on the

Integrated Work Package Objectives and Activities below).

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Source: Adapted from the Action Plan of the Integrated Work Package on Stakeholder Involvement

Alongside with the TG a number of activities have been carried out by the ENRD that

contribute to the objectives of the work package as presented in the table below (and in

Annex I)

Stakeholder mapping

The ENRD Contact Point developed an ENRD Stakeholder Map, including key stakeholder groups and their classification/clustering

1st NRN meeting The 1st NRN meeting (5-6 Nov 2014) aimed to develop a shared understanding and initiate the process of cooperation between the ENRD Contact Point and Network Support Units (NSUs). One of the workshops focused on ‘How to achieve the common network objective on stakeholder involvement?’.

1st ENRD Seminar on Stakeholder Involvement

The 1st ENRD Seminar on Stakeholder involvement was held on 26 March 2015, back-to-back with the 2nd TG meeting. The main objective of the Seminar was to contribute to the improved understanding and capacity of networking as a tool for increasing effective stakeholder involvement in rural development.

4.TAKING ACTION

1. MAPPING 3. TARGETING 2. NEEDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Thematic

Group

Social Media 1st NRN

meetings

UNDERSTANDING

(‘subjects’)

ENGAGING

(‘participants’)

INFORMING

(‘recipients’)

Stakeh.

mapping Seminar

1st Rural

Review

Webiste

Specific

objective

Method

(& target

group)

Tasks &

activities Good

practices

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19th ENRD Rural Review The first issue of the 2014-2020 ENRD Rural Review is focusing on ‘Stakeholder involvement in the RDPs’.

Good practices ENRD CP started good practice development, among others in the field of ‘stakeholder involvement’. Some of these examples informed the Seminar and 2nd TG meeting.

Social media tools Parallel to the TG work a LinkedIn Group has been set up on ‘Stakeholder Involvement in European Rural Development’ in order to facilitate continuous exchange on stakeholder involvement practices among interested members.

The ENRD website The ENRD website serves as one of the key tools to provide information on events, publications and the work of the TG.

Links to the Integrated Work Package on RDP improvement

The TG (and the Integrated Work Package as a whole) has strong links to the Integrated

Work Package on RDP implementation. While the thematic work on ‘Stakeholder

Involvement’ primarily aims to contribute on ‘how’ rural networks should engage with

stakeholders, the thematic work on RDP implementation provides a better understanding on

‘what’ (which themes, measures and issues) networks should focus on. Therefore, the two

integrated work packages work in tandem, both aiming to contribute to the development of

the future work of ENRD and NRNs.

IV. Expected outcomes & their dissemination

The table below summarises the expected outcomes of the TG work and outlines the links

with: i) the specific TG outputs and; ii) other elements of the work package on ‘stakeholder

involvement’.

In addition to the objectives and activities specified above, a cross-cutting objective of the

Thematic Group is to disseminate outcomes to the relevant stakeholder groups. Targeted

dissemination activities are planned in addition to the social media and website channels

including:

Targeted dissemination of report to stakeholders who expressed interest in the thematic work, including grassroot stakeholders and their organisations, Managing Authorities and Network Support Units.

The report is expected to be used by stakeholders (especially Network Support Units) as a tool to raise awareness about the added value of networking with regard to the involvement of stakeholders in rural development policy formulation and implementation.

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Thematic Group activities Other elements of the ENRD integrated work package

Thematic Group objectives/ expected results

1st TG meeting

2nd TG meeting

3rd TG meeting

TG Final report

Stakeholder mapping & interviews

NRN meeting

ENRD Seminar

Good practices

Rural Review

Social media

Website

Main themes and issues of stakeholder involvement identified.

X X X

Useful methods, tools and approaches on effective stakeholder involvement identified at policy, local planning and project levels.

X X X X X

Identify areas where networking can improve stakeholder involvement in rural development policy formulation and implementation.

X X X X X X X X

Identify common barriers and challenges to stakeholder involvement and

X X X X X

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Thematic Group activities Other elements of the ENRD integrated work package

Thematic Group objectives/ expected results

1st TG meeting

2nd TG meeting

3rd TG meeting

TG Final report

Stakeholder mapping & interviews

NRN meeting

ENRD Seminar

Good practices

Rural Review

Social media

Website

possible ways to overcome these.

Provide European Networks and NRNs with recommendations and examples on how to involve stakeholders more effectively in rural development.

X X

Communication & dissemination of thematic work results & outcomes

X X X X

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Annex I: Key stages in the ENRD Thematic Work on Stakeholder Involvement

•Workshop 1 on 'better networking'

•Presentation of Thematic Group concept

RD Assembly

26 January 2015

• Brussels & online

• Planning of TG action plan

• Identifying themes & planning of the 1st ENRD Seminar

1st TG Meeting

12 Feb 2015 • Presenatition and discusision about stakeholder involvement examples and practices

1st ENRD Seminar '

26 March 2015

• Discussion on Seminar outcomes and next steps

2nd TG Meeting

27 March 2015 • ENRD Periodical on Stakeholder involvement

Rural Review

•Discussion & planning of TG report content

3rd TG Meeting

28 May 2015

•Recommendations for ENRD & NRNs

Final TG Report

July 2015

Annex II: Proposed Structure of the Thematic Group Report

Background

1. Why?

The rationale and basis for stakeholder involvement in EU programmes

2. What is stakeholder involvement?

Explanation and examples of stakeholder involvement at different levels: projects, local strategies, policies

3. Who?

Stakeholder mapping…

4. What are the main channels and points for influencing policy (at the right time and the

right level)?

Entry points for networks to influence rural development policy formulation and

implementation…

5. What tools are available to rural networks for influencing policy implementation

Examples of practical tools and methods…

6. Recommendations

… for rural network (ENRD & NRNs)

…for Managing Authorities

…for grassroot stakeholders