Green Partnerships Local Partnerships for Greener Cities and

Regions

Stakeholder involvement

Name of local authority

Place & date of training

“Bad engagement is worse than none at all”

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On the agenda …Methodology 1

► Reception coffee► Pre-training questionnaire (10’)► Pair interview (who am I? My explectations?) & self-introduction by each

participant (30’)► Sharing experience (1h) ► Pause (15’)► Theoretical inputs (30’)► Method for putting change management into practice : the approach in seven

stages (1h)► Meal (1h30)► Role-play (2h30)► Post-training questionnaire and on-the-spot evaluation (did I meet your

expectations? Express in one word your feeling at the end of this session. What will you take from it? What will you not take from it? (20’)

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On the agenda…Methodology 2

► Reception coffee

► Pair interview (who am I? My expectations?) & self-introduction by each

participant (30’)

► Collective pre-training questionnaire and theoretical inputs (45’)

► Pause (15’)

► Method for putting change management into practice: the approach in seven

stages with feedback from participants (1h45)

► Post-training questionnaire and on-the-spot evaluation (Did it meet your

expectations? Express in one word your feeling at the end of this session. What

will you take from it? What will you not take from it?) (20’)

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Sharing experience

► Have you yourself become involved?

► Have you yourself changed your behaviour when taking part in a project?

► What is your best/worst experience of involvement in your work?

► What were the tools and method used?

► At which target or targets were you aiming?

► What were the conditions for success and the constraints in your experience?

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On the theoretical side

Basis of any change

management model

COMMUNICATIONS

EXPLANATION

INVOLVEMENT

LISTENING

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On the theoretical side

Involvement: Act of bringing together and dynamizing energies to achieve a

particular predetermined objective

Stakeholder: Person taking an active part in an enterprise/approach/event

Result: Significant, long-lasting stakeholder change

It is therefore a matter of getting stakeholders involved in "change management“ 

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On the theoretical side

► An approach that has been around since the 1990s

► A range of models co-exist … Ramsey's model (1982) Rogers's model Prochaska, Norcross & Di Clemente theory of rational action (2002) commitment theory and transtheoretical model Kotter 's model FRAMES model: Miller & Sanchez Prosci's ADKAR model (1998 )

… these approaches are the subject of lively debates between the different schools.

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Why is collective change so difficult and slow?

Individual behaviors depend on collective perceptions and norms

Need for collective awareness and shifts in paradigms and norms

Overly mechanistic view of social change on the part of public authorities ("I think therefore you will change")

Excessive destabilization of identity and perceptions by targets

Existence of objective constraints and inequalities between stakeholders

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As regards ethics, recurrent risks …

MANIPULATION: imposing the thoughts of one of the parties on all the

stakeholders, with the individual becoming a "barrier to change" which must be

"overcome".

REDUCTIONISM: no model could grasp the complexity of the brain and/or

unconscious, not to mention the sociological complexity of society

POLITICS: the responsibility for change does not depend solely on each

individual, but also on public policy provision and changing social norms.

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Some principles to bear in mind!

Behavior change can be summarized in three steps:

PREPARATION CHANGE CONSOLIDATION

Change is never the result of a single tool but of several combined in an approach, with the whole making up an involvement strategy;

Fundamental is the individual decision to change: this decision must be personal and freely taken, but it may also be activated by a proposal or incentive from outside to get involved.

People need support… … and a collective movement for which a supportive relationship, networks and feedback

must be developed.

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The approach in 7 stages & 15 questions

1• What involvement is expected? Defining the change

2• Who is in control? Clarifying the driver, his/her mandate and

resources

3• Which stakeholders are to be involved? Listing the targets and

listening to their position

4• How mature are the targets? Adapting to the diversity of targets

5• What are the relevant tools? Choosing the right tool from the

toolbox

6• Which communications strategy? Adapting messages to the

diversity of targets

7• What is the result? Assessing and measuring the change achieved

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Stage 1: What involvement is expected? What change?

What makes up the change and what kind is it? What ambition does it have and how deep is it? Why is the change necessary? What are the expected benefits? Is it urgent? What are the risks? What would the consequences be if the change failed or was incomplete ? What are the predictable barriers to change? Is the local, national and international context favorable? Are important events or new laws on the horizon? Is there media "noise"?

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Stage 2: Who is in control?

Within what timeframe must the changes be implemented?

Who am I to lead this project (I.e. what is my place in the set-up? Am I supported? Acknowledged? Legitimate? Identified?)

What resources have been allocated to carry out the change process?

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Stage 3 : Which stakeholders are to be involved?

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Stage 3: Which stakeholders are to be involved?

What is the "coalition for change": key driver, experts, partners, volunteers, sponsors and leaders of the change? Who are the contact people and network heads on whom to rely?

Who will the stakeholders ("targets") be? How do these stakeholders see the change? In what situation do they operate? How far have they got in relation to the expected change? What is the downside? The history of change projects? What is the level of shared culture? Are there other parallel projects with a call on the targets? Is it not too time-consuming in view of their availability?

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Stage 4: How mature are the targets?

Stages of maturity Strategic elements to encourage involvement

Does not feel concerned

Increase the level of ecological awareness; E.g. communications campaign on cycling and all its advantages

Concerned but still far from taking action

Lead by example; E.g. organize a cycle-based event with support from an association

Ready to change Encourage the person to change; E.g. offer Sunday rides via associations

Changing Reward, value and acknowledge the progress achieved;E.g. reward with assistance to purchase a bicycle; poster campaign

Consolidating change and getting habits ingrained

Ensure that no obstacle causes a relapse. The person can then in their turn become a contact and resource for someone else who is beginning to change…; E.g. maintained cycle tracks

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Stage 5 : What are the relevant tools?

What is the appropriate combination of tools for my involvement strategy?

What is the timescale for their implementation?

Are the initial targets easy to achieve? What "quick wins" are possible?

Families of tools

Facilitating public

participation in consultation

processes

Running communicatio

ns and educational campaigns

Offering training to

build capacity

Providing tools to facilitate

taking action

Organizing events to raise awareness, get together and

share experience

Networking to develop

exchanges of experience and

establish groups of committed

stakeholders

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Stage 6: Which communications strategy?

Are my messages appropriate for each target?

A FEW BITS OF ADVICE... • stakeholders need explanations if they are to understand what is being suggested;• environmental arguments have little impact as such. They need to be translated into

personal registers such as pleasure (greater comfort...), day-to-day existence (healthier food, more convivial life), and well-being (health, pleasure, comfort, quality-of-life);

• arguments based on urgency or fear are rarely appropriate;• economic operators often understand the economic argument better than ordinary

citizens; • citizens need to have their actions legitimized and recognized by the public authorities

as being in the public interest; • everyone needs to know whether the local authority developing the project is

exemplary

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Stage 7: What is the result

Is the project sufficiently transparent to maintain confidence and commitment, particularly of those who have become deeply involved?

What are the criteria for evaluating the change?

Getting information and acquiring knowledge

Committing to an alliance

Taking part in talks and discussions; making criticisms and displaying resistance but also commitment

Getting involved in carrying out activities

Becoming firmly committed and transforming frame of reference

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Role-play: preparing a stakeholder involvement strategy

INSTRUCTIONS

IN GROUPS OF 3 OR 4 PEOPLE, RELYING ON THE 7-STAGE METHOD, PREPARE AN INVOLVEMENT STRATEGY IN ONE HOUR FOR THE COUNCILLORS WHO HAVE COMMISSIONED THE WORK. YOU WILL THEN HAVE 10 MINUTES TO MAKE AN ORAL PRESENTATION

The Santa Clara peninsula

MISSIONAs those responsible for the project within the Santa Clara local authority services, you are invited to put forward an involvement strategy which is appropriate to the diversity of the targets and takes account of time and resource constraints. In particular, you need to answer the following questions:• What are the expected results?• Which are the targets?• What are the different tools used, the type of language employed and the scale of the tools?• What is the timetable?

You have a budget restricted to €50,000 for the entire involvement process which is to take place over 18 months.

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► Did the training meet your expectations?

► One word to express your feeling at the end of this session?

► What will you take from it?

► What will you not take from it?

On-the-spot evaluation

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► Short bibliography - Boutaud A. (2009), Ecologie : de la sensibilisation aux changements de comportement,

centre de ressources du Grand Lyon- Hopkins R. (2008), The transition Handbook, From oil dependency to local resilience,

Green Books- Prochaska J.O., Norcross J.C. & DiClemente C.C. (2002), Changing for good. A

revolutionary six-stage program for overcoming bad habits and moving your life positively forward, New York : Harper Collins.

► On-line http://citiesintransition.net/ : the forum for cities in transition

http://www.energy-cities.eu/ : the European association of local authorities in energy transition

http://www.3x20.org/ : 3x20.org is a tool for promoting action, sharing, information and display of measurable results in favour of energy-saving and climate protection

http://www.sustainablecities.eu/home/ Web 2.0 applications are leading the way towards forms of digital democracy.

To find out more!

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Thanks!

► Contacts GERES - Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités 2 cours Foch - 13400 Aubagne - France Tel : +33/0 442 18 55 88 - Fax : +33/0 442 03 01 56 - contact@geres.eu - www.geres.eu

Amélie Himpens Chargée de projet –biogaz et agriculturea.himpens@geres.eu