Stakeholder involvement
The Pilot project required a communications strategy to inform
stakeholders about its purpose, timescale, progress and
conclusions, to identify sources of information required, to
consult stakeholders on draft outputs and conclusions and to
promote the outcomes nationally and internationally.
The strategy adopted included setting up a stakeholder database
that grew to over 1000 contacts during the project, a website,
newsletters, presentations, formal and informal consultations and
short articles in relevant publications.
Steering group
The Steering Group was set up by Defra at the start of the
Pilot project with a membership involving Irish Sea Governments,
Devolved Administrations, Government Departments, NGOs and economic
sectors.
Membership and
terms of reference are available online:
A report of how the Pilot project publicised its work and
communicated with stakeholders is available for download (
Vincent et al., 2004). This report
includes the communication strategy prepared at the start of the
Pilot project in full, comments on how the strategy was
implemented, proposals and best practice for communication in
future regional sea management projects. The effectiveness of the
Pilot's communication strategy was evaluated by collating steering
group responses to a questionnaire prepared by the Pilot project
team in January 2004.