Reflections on Stakeholder Engagement, Co-Production Methods, and Knowledge Co-Development in the MYRIAD-EU Project

This presentation reflects on the stakeholder engagement and knowledge co-production process across the Pilots in the MYRIAD-EU project, which aims to provide useful tools and approaches for creating forward-looking disaster risk management pathways that assess trade-offs and synergies across sectors, hazards, and scales. Knowledge co-production in MYRIAD-EU focused on two dimensions: the internal collaboration between project partners and the iterative co-production of knowledge between researchers and stakeholders. In this talk, we briefly introduce the framework and focus on the co-production steps leading to the finding of two focus group (FG) sessions takin place in 2023 and 2024. In these sessions, stakeholders from Scandinavia, Veneto, the Danube, the North Sea, and the Canary Islands actively participated in testing and implementing several methods, tools, and frameworks.

FG1 focused on initial stakeholder interactions, highlighting key challenges such as the rising awareness of climate change impacts, including extreme precipitation events in Scandinavia and the multi-risk nature of past storms in Veneto. Feedback from these sessions underscored the importance of clear communication, sectoral knowledge exchange, and social justice considerations in addressing climate resilience. The collaborative nature of FG1 was reflected in positive stakeholder engagement, with participants providing valuable input for scenario co-creation and testing.

Building on FG1, FG2 sought to deepen sectoral integration and refine the tools developed in the project. While securing stakeholder engagement required continuous efforts from Pilot Leads, the integration of sector-specific experts helped further co-develop disaster risk management pathways. In Veneto, the discussion centred on the Vaia storm, providing a better understanding of cross-sectoral impacts and management actions. Challenges, such as stakeholder fatigue in Scandinavia and mismatched expectations in the Canary Islands, highlighted the ongoing need for adaptable engagement strategies and clear communication of project capabilities.

The use of co-production tools, including structured interviews, interactive surveys, participatory mapping/systems thinking, scorecards, storylines and scenario-building facilitated discussions and provided valuable opportunities for stakeholders to directly influence the development of tools and strategies for disaster risk management. These sessions revealed the importance of iterative feedback, flexibility in engagement, and the need to continuously adapt methods to ensure effective collaboration. The findings underscore that successful knowledge co-development requires the integration of diverse stakeholder knowledge, effective communication of project capabilities, and adaptable co-production strategies tailored to the specific regional and sectoral contexts.