Dr Mark Reed

A passion for stakeholder-led research

“It is easy to complain about the time and money that you have to invest in stakeholder-led research but if you do this part well it stops you going down research dead ends and will save you time and money in the long term.” – Dr Mark Reed, Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability

Dr Mark Reed is a rare find: his entire postgraduate career has involved stakeholder-led research projects. To describe him as an enthusiastic advocate of this method of research would undersell his passion for it.

He says: “If you approach stakeholder engagement with real commitment and a genuine desire to involve and take on board the experiences of non-academic experts you are more likely to be doing the right research; research that will have a real impact in the lives of those participating. If you’re not making a difference, what’s the point?”

Dr Reed, based in the School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen, was one of the lead researchers in the Sustainable Uplands Project, a multi-disciplinary research team of natural and social scientists. The research project was initially funded first as part of the Rural Environment and Land Use programme (RELU) a collaborative venture between NERC and ESRC and was later awarded an ESRC follow-on grant. It is now in its third phase of funding under the latest RELU call. The aim of the research project is to consider how to better anticipate, monitor and adapt to future environmental, social and economic changes in UK upland environments.

From the start the research project set out to involve a wide range of stakeholders: businesses, large water companies, hill farmers, conservation organisations, forestry and land management groups, policy communities and ramblers and leisure users of the uplands.

Top Tip:
How to ask the right question in a stakeholder-led research project:

Start talking to people as soon as you can
Make sure you are talking to the right people: the perceived legitimacy of your research by decision makers will be influenced by who you do and don’t talk to
Make sure you know what people want to talk about: identify goals and be prepared to negotiate and compromise
Be flexible: base your level of research user participation and methods on the context and objectives

One of the main aims of the project was to foster communication between these varied groups. This was achieved by bringing people together in interactive sessions to identify their current needs and aspirations before the research question was devised or the research methodology decided.

The outputs from the project have been many and much more diverse than the researchers ever anticipated. As well as journal articles they created an interactive website, a Youtube channel and DVD, policy briefings, a children’s book, conceptual art and even a jazz composition.

In addition the project has identified ways policymakers can effectively support adaptation, contributing to the development of a best practice guide for payment of ecosystem services by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Agriculture (Defra). The research findings have also been used by water companies to justify investment in land management practices that reduce water treatment costs.

“By combining experience and new ideas from local people with cutting-edge natural and social science, the project has come up with a range of innovative and practical solutions for those that live in and use the uplands that could never have been developed by either group working alone,” says Dr Reed.

Dr Reed is very supportive of pathways to impact and the change in mindset that they are designed to achieve, but warns that it is a process of culture change. He says:

“Among some researchers you will find an attitude that pathways to impact is just another hoop to jump through as part of the grant application process. They approach it in a very cynical way: make the right noises and continue with business as usual.”

“It is entirely plausible that you should be able to identify pathways – not predict impact but think proactively and in advance about identifying your end users and working with them as part of the research process. Sustainable Uplands illustrates the extent of what you can achieve if you co-produce research with a genuine interest and respect for the stakeholders.”

Institution: Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability
Funding council: NERC/ESRC

Links
Project Films