Why stakeholder engagement?
Stakeholders are defined as "any group or individual who is affected by or can affect the achievement of an organisation’s objectives"*.
Stakeholder engagement is an integral part of all systematic reviews to some degree, whether as the group or person who asks the review question, the end user of the review, or any other representative involved. Thinking carefully about how to engage with a comprehensive or representative and balanced group of stakeholders in a meaningful, fair and ethical way is vital to ensure a systematic review is successful.
To date, however, there has been little discussion of this important process in systematic review guidance, particularly in the field of environmental management and conservation but also in many other fields. To fill this information gap, we designed a series of methodology and commentary articles as part of the Collaboration foe Environmental Evidence (CEE) Stakeholder Engagement Methods Group. The series discusses various aspects of engaging with stakeholders: describing the ranges of methods available, outlining experiences from various systematic review experts, and discussing issues relating to conflict, the benefits of training, engaging directly with decision-makers, and communicating review results. In 2018, the series was published in the CEE journal Environmental Evidence, and made into an easy to read Open Access book. In 2019, the series is being converted into a series of webinars, hosted by the Global Evidence Synthesis Initiative.
This website hosts the book, the articles and the webinars in one place, acting as a living resource for those wishing to engage with stakeholders whilst planning, conducting and communicating a systematic review or other evidence synthesis.
* Freeman R. Stakeholder management: a strategic approach. New York: Pitman; 1984.
