Types of Stakeholders

After using brainstorming to identify individual stakeholders, they should be grouped by type. Because people and groups can value coastal areas for many different reasons, the types of sea level rise stakeholders can be quite diverse, including:

Governments (for instance, policymakers; public officials; federal, state, county, & city agencies);

Citizens (for instance, homeowners, interested individuals, underrepresented and vulnerable groups, etc);

Interest groups (for instance, non-governmental organizations, trade groups, professional organizations);

Businesses (for instance, insurance companies, small businesses, national or multi-national corporations with local branches or interests); and

Scientific experts (for instance, faculty at local colleges and universities, employees at local research institutions, scientists from state and federal agencies, independent researchers).

After grouping stakeholders by type, those preparing to facilitate stakeholder participation in the planning process should do research on each of the groups they have identified to learn more about the roles they will likely play in the discussion. Several factors – including stakeholder politics, values, and economic and social status – may shape their participation. The next section explores three stakeholder dimensions that encompass many of these factors.

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Activate Your Learning

Question - Essay

This material is not for credit but you must understand the concepts for the remained of the module.

When identifying stakeholders in a place you do not know well, Wikipedia can be an excellent resource. In the first module, you learned about the World Bank's list of the ten coastal cities with the highest average annual losses for flooding from sea level rise and related hazards:

1. Guangzhou
2. Miami
3. New York
4. New Orleans
5. Mumbai
6. Nagoya
7. Tampa
8. Boston
9. Shenzen
10. Osaka

Choose one of these cities, then click on it to visit its Wikipedia article. Read through the article, paying particular attention to any sections related to demographics, politics or government, economy, transportation, or education.

Based on your review of the Wikipedia article for your chosen city, identify one example of a stakeholder for three of the five stakeholder types (Governments, Citizens, Interest Groups, Businesses, or Scientific Experts) that you think would be interested in sea level rise planning. Write the names of the stakeholder types and examples in the spaces below.

For example, if your chosen city were Sarasota, Florida (which is not included on the World Bank's list), you might answer as follows:

1st Stakeholder type:

Governments

Example stakeholder:

Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization

2nd stakeholder type:

Citizens

Example stakeholder:

Elderly residents

3rd stakeholder type:

Scientific Experts

Example stakeholder:

Mote Marine Laboratory

Remember the city and stakeholder types and examples you choose; you will need them later in this module.

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