The document provides best practices for co-designing research with stakeholders. It discusses identifying research questions and analyzing results together with stakeholders such as policymakers, citizens, and private sector. The Finnish approach involves carefully mapping and grouping stakeholders based on their level of engagement. It then plans specific interaction methods for each stakeholder group. The approach also emphasizes continuous communication through a research blog, social media, and stakeholder events to engage audiences and ensure research relevance. An example case study co-designed a research proposal on water sustainability with a stakeholder advisory board and implemented the outlined communication and interaction plan.

1. CO-DESIGN &
RESEARCH COMMUNICATION
Best practices
Tanja Suni, Phd and Iina Koskinen, MA, Future Earth Finland

2. Source: Future Earth Initial Design
Report (2013)
”CO-DESIGN” OF RESEARCH
STAKEHOLDERS: Policy and decision makers and planners on government
and city level, citizens, NGOs, private sector, media

3. • Ideally: identifying research questions together and analysing &
interpreting results together. At minimum: designing end-products
together with the users.
• Stakeholder roles: complementary data, practitioner knowledge, real-life
limitations for solutions
• Researcher roles: ensuring the scientific excellence of research
questions, wider perspectives and time scales, information about the
background and interconnectivity of problems
• Aims: ownership and short- and long-term societal impacts: 1) products
2) networks & understanding & trust 3) capacity building 4)
transformation (decisions, structures, policies)
THE FINNISH APPROACH

4. STEP 1: MAPPING AND GROUPING
STAKEHOLDERS
1) Collaborate:
Essential stakeholders, fully engaged. Priority co-design of
research questions to contribute to strategies and
programmes, mid- and end-products. Meetings regularly
twice a year and participate in relevant workshops and
meetings.
Government: Ministry of the Environment; Ministry of
Employment and the Economy; Ministry of Agriculture
and Forestry
Municipality officials & practitioners: Carbon-neutral
municipalities group; Capital region (Helsinki, Espoo,
Vantaa)
Private sector: Metsä Group, Biofore Company,
Outokumpu, Stora Enso
2) Involve:
Regular interaction to ensure relevance of work and
knowledge of timely stakeholder processes. Input to co-
design of mid- and end-products. Participation in relevant
workshops and meetings but no need to meet separately as
a team.
Municipality level: political decision-makers in
governments and councils
Consumers, citizens: within case studies and experiments,
the Consumers' Union of Finland
Private sector: Helen, Fortum, Neste, Federation of Finnish
Technology Industries, Climate Leadership Council, Export
Finland
NGOs: Greenpeace, 4H, WWF Finland
3) Consult:
A variable number of stakeholders consulted on relevant
issues when necessary or en masse via surveys (such as
SMEs, citizens, consumers). Invited to relevant
workshops.
EU-level: EC, Finnish MEPs
Private sector: Groups of SMEs
Consumers, media
4) Inform:
Regular updating and informing of project progress.
Website, social media, surveys.
Media and social media audiences
Research community and other experts
General public

5. STEP 2: INTERACTION PLAN WITH METHODS FOR EACH
GROUP
The BiodivERsA
Stakeholder
Engagement
Handbook
www.biodiversa.or
g/577
Durham E., Baker H., Smith
M., Moore E. & Morgan V.
(2014) BiodivERsA, Paris
(108 pp)
One star:
suitable
interaction
method
Two stars:
particularly
suitable
interaction
method

6. Proposal phase:
• The value-chain: identifying actors necessary for best possible results and
solutions for stakeholders
• Thematic workshops for researchers and key stakeholders:
• Elementary mapping of stakeholder needs within the boundaries of the research
• Co-designing the guiding research questions
• Concrete interaction & communication plan for co-designing research and
end-products together and for communicating to different audiences
• Clear roles for stakeholders: complementary knowledge, analysis and
interpretation of data, co-designing end-products, joint leadership with
researchers on specific tasks
Research phase:
• Stick to the interaction plan: every step in it must have a purpose relevant for
the research!
• Utilise participatory methods in your meetings, workshops, Townhalls
• Create a public profile for the research via continuous communication
HOW TO PLAN STAKEHOLDER INTERACTION?

7. ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCES VIA
COMMUNICATION
Communicate your research and research results
Communication takes time. Design a detailed communication plan and stick
to it!
Professional help is good but you are the expert. Make your voice heard.
Good media coverage does not necessarily equal the largest impact!
First steps:
1. Set your goal and identify your stakeholders – who should know about
your research in different phases of research? Who would provide largest
impact?
2. What are your key messages in plain English? What is useful
information for your stakeholders?
3. Start sharing your knowledge already in the beginning of the project: info
graphics, visualizations, write a column / opinion piece
4. Choose your channels: e.g. Twitter and research blog, online portals

8. GO PUBLIC!
- MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CONTENT
WEBSITE/RESEARCH BLOG + SOCIAL MEDIA
Create content for your homepage and distribute parts of it via multiple
channels!
Balance between project and personal communication profile.
Take profit of your stakeholders communication channels
Research blog
Publish regularly: 1 post per week / 2 weeks
Various options for topics: your own research content (outline of an important
theme, progress, results, field trips etc.), latest developments in your field, reports
from you attend/organize, comments on timely conversations and events (COP21)
Remember plain language, research blog is both for fellow scientists AND lay
audiences
Keep it short: ½-1 page at maximum
Choose your social media channels according to your stakeholders:
Decision-makers and journalists follow Twitter.
Facebook: Audiences take long time to build – be active in Facebook groups
Instragram: Build atmosphere and share pictures from the field

9. People are interested in other people and research projects end at some point
– tweet as a person!
Easy ways to start:
1) Remember, the life-span of one tweet is 7 minutes, don’t overthink it!
2) If your project is short, it is better to use # (hashtag) than create a Twitter account
for the project
3) Start live-tweeting from a seminar etc. Write a couple of tweets before hand.
4) Twitter is about sharing. Share interesting tweets, ping the right people, and
choose right #!
5) Remember human interest
For tips on Twitter, blogs and visualizations, see Future Earth:
http://www.futureearth.org/blog/pop-webinars
TWITTER CRASH COURSE

10. Future Earth Finland acts as an interaction partner
• Coordinates interaction and provides co-design training for the scientists
• Scientists co-designed research proposal with stakeholders
• Used stakeholder mapping
• Set up a stakeholder advisory board: ministries, NGO’s, Think thank, technology
industry interest groups
• Stakeholders to host project workshops
• Communication support from a scicomm company Kaskasmedia: profiles for the
researchers, #vesiviisas, active Tweeting and blogging on the project website and
stakeholders website
EXAMPLE CASE – TOWARDS WATER-SMART CIRCULAR
ECONOMY

11. INTERACTION PLAN
NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT
Comm, Kick-off
10.12.2016,
Circular economy
entry to
Wikipeadia
Workshop
27.1.2016
Technology
industries’ circular
economy day
Worshops at lake
Pyhäjärvi 10.-11.3.
Water-use in
Finland, infograph
Policy and
regulation
workshop, Final
seminar
Expert interviews, co-design of research and end-products
Communication and social media #vesiviisas
EVENTS
• Project is taking use of the stakeholders’s own networks and organizes seminars with them in
and their own seminars
• Future Earth Finland facilitates workshops with scientists
COMMUNICATION
• Press releases
• Policy Brief
• Infographics on the water use in Finland
• Blogs on project website and visitor blogs on stakeholder’s website
• Finnish Circular Economy entry in Wikipedia
• Regular colum in Forum for Environmental Information’s Newsletter

12. EXTRA SLIDES FOR DISCUSSION

13. What scientists have to offer for media and public
discourse:
• Public discourse needs good arguments
• Analysis based on scientific knowledge
• Informed assessments and viewpoints
• Creating a context
• Speculations and scenarios for future
Step out of you comfort zone and widen your expertise.
Too much for you? Remember, part of your expertise as a
researcher is to know where to get information!
GO PUBLIC! – TAKE PART IN PUBLIC
DISCOURSE

14. Easy ways to start:
5) Remember human interest.