Deliverable 5.3 - Strategy for engagement and citizen science

• Deliverable 5.3 was developed by Prospex Institute as part of WaterLANDS WP5 – Co-Creating Best Practice.
• A central aim of WaterLANDS is to achieve wetland restoration that not only provides ecological benefits, but also meets the needs of communities and stakeholders in these landscapes. Therefore, listening to and engaging with these people is essential.
• The Deliverable provides an overview of the context and strategies for stakeholder engagement at the six WaterLANDS Action Sites, with additional context and support from the WaterLANDS Knowledge Sites.
• The Deliverable report is divided into four sections:
• Section 1 provides an overview of the engagement and co-creation methods being followed, including stakeholder mapping, citizen science, and a framework for monitoring community engagement over the course of the project.
• Section 2 of the report discusses the processes to facilitate knowledge exchange between the Action and Knowledge Sites, and the lessons that have been drawn on to guide the Action Sites towards successful community engagement and co-creation for restoration at their sites.
• Section 3 presents the WaterLANDS conceptualisation of co-creation. Co-creation is an iterative and non-linear process, allowing those involved to reflect and adapt as the process unfolds.
• Finally, Section 4 is the jumping off point for the individual engagement strategies of each Action Site.
• Read this Deliverable report in full if you are:
• A restoration practitioner who is carrying out wetland restoration and wants to learn more about meaningful engagement with communities and stakeholders.
• A policymaker or decisionmaker who is interested in creating environmental policies that understand the needs of the embedded people and communities in a landscape.
• A community member or stakeholder who is interesting in getting into the details about collaboration and co-creation in wetland restoration.

NB. We appreciate not everyone has the time to read such a report, and we are currently preparing a concise version for stakeholders to share the main messages in this report.