D 149 / D 9.82 - Report on key challenges, best practices and recommendations for stakeholder engagement

Within the European H2020 CONCERT project ENGAGE, a dedicated work package examines stakeholder engagement in practice in three exposure contexts: emergency response and recovery, medical use of ionising radiation and indoor radon. This report has the following objectives: introduce key concepts of participation theory; propose a research methodology operationalising the analysis of stakeholder engagement in practice; carry out an exploratory literature review of participation in radiation protection research and practice, and in related non-nuclear fields; and summarise key challenges and best practices revealed or recommended in relation to stakeholder engagement in the documents analysed. Overall, results show the commonalities in the challenges, underlying principles, core values and global aims across fields. Key challenges and selected best practices are illustrated based on lessons learned from radiation protection fields, as well as from radioactive waste management and nonnuclear disaster preparedness. However, a thick description through case studies is needed to reveal the meanings and practices of engagement in specific contexts. The results reported in this deliverable form the base for case studies for the three ENGAGE exposure situations which will be carried out within ENGAGE tasks 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4