Abstracts

Does stakeholder involvement in climate change research make a difference? Lessons from the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program

Pamela Kertland
Natural Resources Canada
pkertlan@nrcan.gc.ca

The Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program was established in 2001 to build a foundation of knowledge about Canada's vulnerability to climate change and build the capacity of Canadians to undertake research and use the results in adaptation decision-making. In developing the program, it was recognized that stakeholders hold data and knowledge essential for adaptation research and are often on the front line of adaptation development and implementation. Internationally, there was growing evidence that involvement of stakeholders in research enhanced the analysis, grounded it in reality, and had the potential to increase the uptake of results. Thus the Program required its projects to include stakeholders in their plans as a condition of funding. This presentation will take a critical look at the lessons learned about stakeholder participation and its impact on the research and knowledge transfer processes.

2005-04-05