Guideline for effective stakeholder management

The guideline for effective stakeholder engagement is an initiative under Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 Direction 6.2 to ‘reduce the likelihood and consequences of natural hazard events and adapt to climate change’. It delivers on Action 86 of the Plan Melbourne 2017–2050 5 Year Implementation Plan as a strategic response to strengthen ‘whole-of-settlement adaption and risk mitigation strategies’.

The guideline has been developed for strategic land use planners and has been informed by a consultation process. It builds on research and analysis into current stakeholder engagement practice undertaken as part of the strategic planning of settlements exposed to natural hazard and climate change risks.

Engaging stakeholders, including communities is an important part of settlement planning when deciding locations for new settlements and urban growth, particularly where there is exposure to natural hazard and climate change risks. This includes considering the impact of settlement planning on natural hazards. It is a Victorian regulatory requirement for local and state governments when undertaking planning scheme amendments and should involve stakeholders across a range of agencies and organisations, business and industry representatives and community members.

The Guideline provides a resource for how to undertake, and achieve effective engagement outcomes, including when required by regulation. Effective engagement provides opportunities for stakeholders to inform key stages and decisions in the strategic settlement planning process, build local capacity and knowledge and establish a shared resilience vision for communities.

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

The guideline will assist strategic land use planners to engage with stakeholders, including communities, when undertaking settlement planning. It supports active stakeholder involvement in the early stages, and throughout the settlement planning process to help communities understand and respond to natural hazards that may affect them. Reference made to natural hazards throughout the document means the risks they pose and their impacts exacerbated by climate change.

The objectives of the guideline are:

• Set out a proactive engagement process to support settlement planning using a principles based approach.
• Provide tools to undertake detailed stakeholder analysis to support engagement and build local knowledge.
• Describe the stakeholder engagement process, including who, when and how to engage.
• Describe how the Guideline relates to other relevant planning engagement and consultation processes, government policies and the Victorian planning system.
• Provide information and examples about how to engage communities on the impacts of natural hazard risks.
• Engage with Traditional Owner groups throughout the settlement planning process.
• Demonstrate how local insights and technical knowledge and information can strengthen the planning process for settlement planning.

1.2 Why do we need the guideline?

The Victorian Government’s policy is to achieve safer and more resilient communities. Encouraging input on settlement planning from a wide range of stakeholders, and being inclusive, will lead to improved preparation for, and response to natural hazard risks affecting where communities live and work.

Research tells us that either a ‘people’ or ‘risk’ focused direction is usually taken when engaging stakeholders on natural hazards. In Victoria, planners generally apply a ‘risk’ focus to engagement.

The engagement approach for this Guideline supports the integration of a ‘people’ and ‘risk’ focus, to ensure the inclusion of views from a wide range of stakeholders.

1.3 When to use the guideline

The guideline should be used at any stakeholder engagement stage of a settlement planning project, including when undertaking engagement and consultation for planning scheme amendments to meet the requirements under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act).

The guideline applies when preparing strategic planning documents, such as regional growth plans, local settlement plans, including structure plans and precinct structure plans, and planning scheme reviews involving areas of natural hazards.

The engagement approach can be adapted to suit a project’s specific need, recognising that each project is different in the context of engaging the community. It can also be informed by relevant state-endorsed natural hazard and climate change adaptation guidance.

1.4 What are the natural hazards?

The guideline only addresses engagement on natural hazards. Climate change will have a significant impact on the way natural hazards are managed in future as it exacerbates the impacts of events.

Natural hazards are a source of potential harm or a situation with a potential to cause loss. Not all natural hazards are relevant to settlement planning in Victoria. Natural hazards can include:

Bushfire: A fire, occurring in bushland and grassland hazards, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.

Coastal: A coastal hazard can include erosion and inundation.

Drought: A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.

Flood: A flood occurs when water inundates land which is usually dry. Flood includes stormwater and rivers.

Heatwave:  A period of uncharacteristically hot weather, generally lasting several days.

Landslide: The movement of mass earth materials down a slope.

Severe storm: Includes:

• windstorms
• dust storms
• blizzards
• storm tides
• severe thunderstorms (including hailstorms, tornadoes and heavy rain).

2. Role of the guideline

Existing engagement requirements

The guideline is not prescriptive. It is not a substitute for the engagement and consultation undertaken by a planning authority to meet the requirements under the Act for a planning scheme amendment. It assists a planning authority to enhance engagement associated with this process.

The guideline should be used to inform broader engagement beyond those processes associated with the Act. Section 7 outlines when extra attention should be given to engagement practice.

The mandatory or discretionary stages of engagement and consultation for a relevant planning scheme amendment are summarised below.

3. Engagement approach

There is a range of Victorian and national government policies and frameworks to address the resilience of communities.

Listed below are those reviewed, providing an overview of current policies and standard practices when engaging stakeholders in settlement planning. They emphasise the importance of engaging stakeholders while responding to natural hazards.

Although aligned in the need for engaging stakeholders, overall approaches show different focus areas of engagement: either a ‘people’ or ‘risk’ focus. Having a focus in one area does not mean the other area is disregarded or is less important. For example, a policy might have a risk focus, but within this priority, people still play a large role.

The ‘risk-focused’ approach uses engagement with stakeholders to identify, analyse, evaluate and mitigate risk.  Based on feedback from natural resource managers and emergency services, the engagement practice of strategic planners lends itself more towards a ‘risk-focused’ approach to considering how natural hazards impact settlement planning. This is likely influenced by planning policies that advocate a risk-based approach to planning, then determining the engagement approach to meet statutory requirements.

The ‘people-focused’ approach recognises that for communities and their settlements to be resilient and safe, communities need to be at the centre of decision making and participate in prevention and mitigation approaches. Policies and frameworks with this focus consider engagement essential for the development of resilient and safe communities. For settlement planning this means engaging with stakeholders early in the settlement planning process to create a tailored response.

Interviews with planners found that when strategic planners engage outside of the Act requirements for planning scheme amendments, engagement generally had a ‘people’ focus that set different expectations for engagement.

The guideline supports both a ‘people’ and ‘risk’ approach.  It equips strategic planners with tools to consider the integration of ‘people’ as well as ‘risk’ in their engagement approach through connection and collaboration.

4. Engagement principles

There are 8 engagement principles that provide a basic reference to good stakeholder engagement.

If each of the principles can be considered in the design and delivery of the engagement, planners should be confident a quality outcome will be achieved.

These principles should always be applied in ways that suit your engagement. They acknowledge that each engagement has a different purpose, and each community will have different external influences.

The 8 principles include the intended approach to deliver on the principles:

5. Why engage?

Stakeholder engagement is important in the development of all strategic planning processes.

The purpose and style of engagement depends on a range of factors including, the objectives, locations, stakeholders involved, and the time available.

There are 2 key reasons to undertake engagement with stakeholders when settlements are exposed to natural hazards.

6. Who to engage?

A stakeholder is any person or organisation that can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be affected by a decision or activity.

Engagement should include representatives from diverse sectors, including local communities, Traditional Owner groups, government, agencies, experts, business and industry. Seeking out participation from each of these cohorts will enable a vast range of experiences, impacts and interests to be identified and understood.

Engagement must prioritise the sharing of information and collaboration between stakeholder groups. Importantly, consider whether there is diversity in a project stakeholder list, and if stakeholders will face barriers that limit or block their ability to participate, and how these can be overcome. Think through other participation constraints, such as resources, to help determine how stakeholders can be engaged.

The list below is an indicative example of key stakeholders, arranged by level of interest and influence. A similar approach should be taken to define the unique stakeholders of each project.

The stakeholder resource list describes each stakeholder’s role, likely interest in the settlement planning process, and potential level of involvement in the decision-making process.

Stakeholders by level of influence

Note: The list is non-exhaustive and does not replicate all stakeholders in the Appendix.

Inform

Provide factual information.

• Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group
• Parks Victoria
• Victoria Police

Consult

Seek feedback or advice.

• Ambulance Victoria
• Department of Education and Training
• Environment Protection Authority
• Industry ‘peak body groups’
• Research organisations
• Life Saving Victoria

Involve

Provide a two-way exchange of information.

• Community groups, Friends of groups, Progress Associations (etc)
• Department of Transport and Planning
• Land Development and Subdivision Industry
• Landowners and occupiers
• Municipal Fire Prevention
• Officers
• Utility Providers

Collaborate

Work together to solve a problem.

• Country Fire Authority
• Fire Rescue Victoria
• Floodplain Management Authorities (Catchment Management Authorities/Melbourne Water)
• Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
• Emergency Management
• Committees – state, regional and municipal Local Government
• Registered Aboriginal Parties
• Traditional Owner groups
• Victorian Planning Authority

7. When to engage?

Engagement on strategic settlement planning needs to start early, and continue throughout the planning, implementation, and evaluation stages.

We have outlined an indicative approach on when to engage, including when it is required under the Act for planning scheme amendments. It includes broad stages of engagement from background planning to the evaluation of the planning process. It also lists examples of key stakeholders to engage with and potential questions.

8. How to engage?

This section outlines how to design a stakeholder engagement process based on leading practice engagement approaches.

Follow the steps below to ensure the engagement program is strategic, purposeful and accessible. The steps should be aligned with the engagement principles in section 4.

Step 1: Define your purpose

A purpose is a broad statement that defines what you plan to do during and after the engagement. It is important to start the engagement process by defining its scope and purpose, and to communicate the parameters of the engagement broadly and clearly.

Tips for defining the purpose include:

• Use the right language. The term ‘engagement’ can have different meanings or definitions depending on an organisation’s sector, resources, intent and stakeholders and communities involved.
• Use engagement tools such as the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum to help define your purpose.
• Speak to people with diverse experiences and interests in the project to ensure the purpose meets the needs of all internal stakeholders.
• Research similar engagement programs and contact those involved to hear their reflections and lessons learnt.

Step 2: Design your objectives

At the beginning of any engagement the objectives should be clearly defined so stakeholders understand the process and intended outcomes.

Objectives also need to be commonly understood and ‘owned’ by the broader project team.  They should be carefully worded to accurately represent the project purpose and to avoid any misunderstanding.  This will also allow for effective monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Tips for designing objectives include:

• Keep them meaningful and succinct.
• Use accessible and appropriate language.
• Present the objectives in a logical order.
• Develop both process and content objectives; process being the how, content being the what.

Step 3: Identify the negotiables and non-negotiables

It is important to identify the negotiable and nonnegotiable elements of the project.

By identifying and understanding what is negotiable, it is possible to:

• Clearly communicate and provide information about what decisions have already been made.
• Identify and communicate what is outside your sphere of influence or project scope.
• Clarify the areas that the decision-makers are seeking to engage with stakeholders and the community.
• Be honest with stakeholders and the community about what outcomes will and will not be possible as a result of the engagement and the project.
• Clearly defined and communicated non-negotiable elements avoid unrealistic expectations and minimise the risk of conflict or confusion.
• Tips for identifying negotiables and non-negotiables include:
• Include all relevant project team members and partners in the conversation.
• Try to list as many negotiables and non-negotiables as you can.
• Consider each phase or stage and consider all streams of work being completed.
• Think of additional elements which could be negotiated to complement the project, such as creating events or establishing reference groups or programs.

Step 4: Understand the stakeholders

Determining who should participate in the engagement is a key stage in planning for engagement as outlined in Section 6.

Each engagement project involves different groups of people with varied ideas about the issue.  It is very important to identify the people or groups who are affected by or have influence on the project, and to understand their level of interest in the project, their motivations, and their ability to participate in the engagement process.

Develop a comprehensive list and deep understanding of the relevant stakeholders by following these steps:

1. Research your stakeholders
   • Learn about public perception of the project.
   • Consider past experiences and previous engagement with stakeholders concerning similar issues.
2. Identify your stakeholders
   • Create a list of key stakeholders and stakeholder groups. Work with a cross section of staff within your organisation to identify all potential stakeholders.
   • Reach out to other organisations and community members.
   • Consider advertising in local papers and other media.
3. Prioritise your stakeholders

• Create a list that identifies the stakeholders most likely to be highly affected by the outcomes of your project.
• Identify who might find it harder to participate in the engagement process.

4. Understand your stakeholders

• What are the stakeholder perceptions of the project?
• How much influence do stakeholders have?
• What things are important to them?
• How have they participated in the past?
• What is their willingness to change?
• What are their barriers to engagement?
• How can we prepare for their participation?

Step 5: Select the tools and techniques

There are endless tools and techniques that can be used for your engagement.  Depending on the purpose and the stakeholders, some will be more suitable than others.

Common engagement tools include workshops, small group discussions, briefings, interviews and surveys. It is important to combine a range of tools and techniques that enable, and support, diverse stakeholders to participate.

Questions to consider when selecting the best tools for the engagement are:

• What are the engagement questions and what is the best technique to present them to the community?
• What resources are available to you to support the engagement?
• What is realistic within the timeframe of the engagement?
• A re you hoping to engage a breadth of stakeholders and community members, or go in-depth with a small group?
• What are the stakeholder and community barriers to engagement and how can they be overcome?
• Which engagement techniques have been successful in the past with the stakeholders and community in question?
• Which tools and techniques will assist in achieving the objectives of the engagement?
• H ow will you ensure the engagement is inclusive and accessible to everyone?
• I s there a mix of online and face-to-face engagement?

Step 6: Manage the engagement data

Capturing the engagement effectively is very important. For example, capturing the knowledge, thoughts and opinions drawn out by the engagement process.  This information will be used to influence future decisions, and for public reporting purposes.

The methods used to capture this information are likely to be different for each project and could include formal minutes of a meeting, a facilitator’s notes from a workshop, or a recorded interview.

Tips for planning to capture engagement data include:

• Consider the data to be captured and whether it will be qualitative and/or quantitative.
• Do not alter your engagement materials or questions once the process has started.  This can be misleading and will affect the validity of your data.
• Prepare a template sign-in sheet for workshops or meetings to capture details of participants and brief team members to assist participants to sign in correctly.
• Explain to participants how their details and information will be used during the engagement. This can make some participants feel more comfortable in sharing their thoughts and opinions.
• Seek permission from participants to record or film discussions.

Step 7: Provide feedback

You need to plan what you are going to report, which feedback you are likely to share, and how this will be communicated.

‘Closing the loop’ refers to any process which feeds back the engagement findings or outcomes to the participants. This process is important because:

• Participants can see how their feedback was used, instilling trust in your process.
• Provides transparent implementation of actions with a widely understood evidence base.
• Maintains relationships for future engagement.
• Provides a plan for how the feedback process will happen.

Tips for planning feedback include:

• Set up a centralised database, ready to store participants’ details from the beginning.
• Ask participants during the engagement for their preferred method of receiving feedback.
• Thank participants via telephone or email at appropriate moments, even if their participation was minimal.
• Plan how and when findings will be published online, and how interested participants will be notified.
• Prepare to issue newsfeeds for participants by communicating information on the progress of the project. This is important, even if there is little to report.
• Devise a method to keep track of who has received what information to avoid spamming people or overlooking some participants.

Stakeholder resource list

This is a non-exhaustive list. The level of interest and influence for each stakeholder should be determined by the project working group for a project – refer to section 6 and section 8.

Definitions

Collaboration: The process of working together to solve a problem.

Communication: Imparting or exchanging information or ideas, utilising a range of channels and mediums.

Community: A group of people who live in the same geographical area or have a shared background, interest, affiliation or membership.

Consultation: Seeking feedback or advice on a select topic or project.

Engagement: A process to strengthen relationships, increase local knowledge and inform decision making.

Hazard: A source of potential harm or a situation with a potential to cause loss.

Inclusion: The practices that allow all people to feel valued and respected. This is irrespective of age, disability, gender, religion, sexual preference or nationality. This is evident when anyone who wishes to can fully participate. This means they can access, understand, and contribute their perspectives and talents to the engagement.

Partnership: Two or more people or organisations working in a formalised relationship with a clear sense of purpose. Accountabilities and responsibilities are shared.

Process: A relationship between key steps, activities, tasks, policies and/or resources.

Public: Individuals who live, work, visit or have an interest in a defined place.

Risk: The likelihood and consequence of a hazard, including the impacts on people, property and the environment.

Stakeholders: Individuals or organisations, which affect, or can be affected by project decisions. Organisations can include not-for-profit and community based groups, business and industry, and volunteer networks. They may also include other departments or agencies across federal, state and local government.

Page last updated: 25/06/24