Chapter 2: The Water for Agriculture Project
Introduction
Introduction
Water for Agriculture is a research and outreach project led by partners at Penn State, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Arizona State, and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. The goal of the Water for Ag project was to assess how, and under what conditions stakeholder engagement approaches lead to individual, organizational, and community changes that in turn affect the ways water quality and quantity are managed in agricultural landscapes. The project team of social scientists, biophysical scientists, and extension and outreach professionals developed and implemented stakeholder engagement strategies in 5 sites and assessed the outcomes of those processes using a combination of research methods. This Guidebook is designed to share the process and results of this project so others interested can learn from our insights, adaptations, and even missteps.
This project was funded by USDA from 2017-2022 and brought together a broad group of researchers, practitioners, students, outreach specialists, and stakeholders across 3 states and across four partner organizations – Penn State University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Arizona State University and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Here we highlight aspects of the project design and structure that are critical for understanding the core ideas we share in this Guidebook.
Tools & worksheets
Understanding Single, Double and Triple Loop Learning – Fact Sheet
This fact sheet describes the differences between single, double, and triple-loop learning.
The Role and Importance of Boundary Spanners – Fact Sheet
Describes the role played by “boundary spanners” – individuals who manage complexity and interdependencies and seek to establish new alliances, collaboratively develop innovative solutions, and encourage the transfer and translation of information – in engagement processes.
Additional resources
The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool: issues and analysis
Gene Rowe & George Wright, International Journal of Forecasting 15 (1999) 353–375.
Abstract: This paper systematically reviews empirical studies looking at the effectiveness of the Delphi technique, and provides a critique of this research. Findings suggest that Delphi groups outperform statistical groups (by 12 studies to two with two‘ties’) and standard interacting groups (by five studies to one with two ‘ties’), although there is no consistent evidence that the technique outperforms other structured group procedures. However, important differences exist between the typical laboratory version of the technique and the original concept of Delphi, which make generalisations about ‘Delphi’ per se difficult. These differences derive from a lack of control of important group, task, and technique characteristics (such as the relative level of panellist expertise and the nature of feedback used). Indeed, there are theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that a Delphi conducted according to ‘ideal’ specifications might perform better than the standard laboratory interpretations. It is concluded that a different focus of research is required to answer questions on Delphi effectiveness,focusing on an analysis of the process of judgment change within nominal groups.
A conceptual framework for social, behavioral, and environmental change through stakeholder engagement in water resource management. Society & Natural Resources 2021
Eaton, Weston M., Kathryn Brasier, Mark E. Burbach, Walt Whitmer, Elizabeth W. Engle, Morey Burnham, Barbara Quimby, Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Hannah Whitley, Jodi Delozier, Lara B. Fowler, Amber Wutich, Julia C. Bausch, Melissa Beresford, C. Clare Hinrichs, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, Heather E. Preisendanz, Clinton Williams, Jack Watson, Jason Weigle. Society & Natural Resources 34(8):1111-1132.
Abstract. Incorporating stakeholder engagement into environmental management may help in the pursuit of novel approaches for addressing complex water resource problems. However, evidence about how and under what circumstances stakeholder engagement enables desirable changes remains elusive. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for studying social and environmental changes possible through stakeholder engagement in water resource management, from inception to outcomes. We synthesize concepts from multiple literatures to provide a framework for tracing linkages from contextual conditions, through engagement process design features, to social learning, community capacity building, and behavioral change at individual, group, and group network levels, and ultimately to environmental change. We discuss opportunities to enhance the framework including through empirical applications to delineate scalar and temporal dimensions of social, behavioral, and environmental changes resulting from stakeholder engagement, and the potential for negative outcomes thus far glossed over in research on change through engagement.