The following information appears in a box on page 16 of the printed report.
Guidelines for Stakeholder Involvement
- Regulatory agencies or other organizations considering stakeholder involvement should be clear about the extent to which they are willing or able to respond to stakeholder involvement before they undertake such efforts. If a decision is not negotiable, don’t waste stakeholders’ time.
- The goals of stakeholder involvement should be clarified at the outset and stakeholders should be involved early in the decision-making process. Don’t make saving money the sole criterion for success or expect stakeholder involvement to end controversy.
- Stakeholder involvement efforts should attempt to engage all potentially affected parties and solicit a diversity of perspectives. It may be necessary to provide appropriate incentives to encourage stakeholder participation.
- Stakeholders must be willing to negotiate and should be flexible. They must be prepared to listen to and learn from diverse viewpoints. Where possible, empower stakeholders to make decisions, including providing them with the opportunity to obtain technical assistance.
- Stakeholders should be given credit for their roles in a decision, and how stakeholder input was used should be explained. If stakeholder suggestions were not used, explain why.
- Stakeholder involvement should be made part of a regulatory agency’s mission by:
– Creating an office that supports stakeholder processes.
– Seeking guidance from experts in stakeholder processes.
– Training risk managers to take part in stakeholder involvement efforts.
– Building on experiences of other agencies and on community partnerships.
– Emphasizing that stakeholder involvement is a learning process.
- The nature, extent, and complexity of stakeholder involvement should be appropriate to the scope and impact of a decision and the potential of the decision to generate controversy.