Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 330
Appendix D
IRPA Guiding Principles for
Stakeholder Engagement
T
he following material is taken verbatim from an International Radiation
Protection Association (IRPA) document “IRPA Guiding Principles for
Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement.”1 The
IRPA is an international professional association focused on radiation protection,
that seeks to enable improved communication among those engaged in radiation
protection activities in all countries so that radiation protection can be improved
worldwide.
1 See http://www.irpa.net/; accessed October, 2011.
330
OCR for page 331
331
APPENDIX D
IRPA Guiding Principles for
Radiation Protection Professionals on
Stakeholder Engagement
INTRODUCTION
During the 11th Congress of the International Radiation Protection Associa -
tion (IRPA) held in Madrid in May 2004 there were considerable discussions on
the benefits of involving all relevant parties in the decision-making processes
related to radiological protection. It was agreed that this involvement, briefly
described as “Stakeholder Engagement”, should play an important and integral
part in these processes. A need was identified for guidance to be produced to
help radiation protection professionals to understand the objectives, requirements
and demands of stakeholder engagement, encourage participation and provide a
framework for establishing a constructive dialogue with other stakeholders.
As a result of these discussions a group of professionals from the French,
Spanish and UK IRPA Associate Societies decided to collaborate in organising
a series of workshops to exchange information especially on case studies of
how stakeholder involvement had been carried out in different fields of radia-
tion protection. The workshops were held in Salamanca, Spain, November 2005,
Montbéliard, France, December 2006 and Oxford, UK, December 2007 and
resulted in a draft version of the Guiding Principles. During the course of this
development the progress was systematically reported to meetings of the IRPA
Executive Council and at IRPA Regional Congresses (Paris, France in May 2006,
Acapulco, Mexico in September 2006, Beijing, China in October 2006, Cairo,
Egypt in April 2007 and Brasov, Romania in September 2007).
The draft version of the Guiding Principles was sent to all Associate Societies
for comments in Spring 2008. After revision by the Executive Council the Guid -
ing Principles were presented at the IRPA 12 Associate Societies Forum and, after
discussion and with some amendments, endorsed by the Forum. The Guiding
Principles were finally adopted formally on 18 October 2008 in Buenos Aires by
the IRPA Executive Council.
These Guiding Principles are intended to aid members of IRPA Associate
Societies in promoting the participation of all relevant parties in the process of
reaching decisions involving radiological protection which may impact on the
well being and quality of life of workers and members of the public, and on
the environment. In promoting this approach, radiological protection profes-
sionals will aim to develop trust and credibility throughout the decision making
process in order to improve the sustainability of any final decisions.
OCR for page 332
332 APPENDIX D
PRINCIPLES
Radiological protection professionals should endeavour to:
1. Identify opportunities for engagement and ensure the level of engagement
is proportionate to the nature of the radiation protection issues and their context.
2. Initiate the process as early as possible, and develop a sustainable imple -
mentation plan.
3. Enable an open, inclusive and transparent stakeholder engagement process.
4. Seek out and involve relevant stakeholders and experts.
5. Ensure that the roles and responsibilities of all participants, and the rules
for cooperation are clearly defined
6. Collectively develop objectives for the stakeholder engagement process,
based on a shared understanding of issues and boundaries.
7. Develop a culture which values a shared language and understanding, and
favours collective learning.
8. Respect and value the expression of different perspectives.
9. Ensure a regular feedback mechanism is in place to inform and improve
current and future stakeholder engagement processes.
10. Apply the IRPA Code of Ethics in their actions within these processes to
the best of their knowledge.
GUIDANCE
Principle 1
Identify opportunities for engagement and ensure the level of engagement
is proportionate to the nature of the radiation protection issues at stake and
their context.
The primary purpose of engagement is to contribute to decision making on
radiological protection measures so that;
• the measures are more widely understood and respected;
• the measures are optimal and work in practice across a broad range of
foreseeable situations;
• the measures are tailored to the local context (social, economic, environ-
mental etc);
• the measures will continue to be effective and have credibility for some
reasonable period of time.
Engagement will add real value to the decision-aiding process and its out -
come but its extent and nature need to be proportionate to the radiation protection
OCR for page 333
333
APPENDIX D
issues and concerns at stake. This includes being realistic about the co-operation
that can be achieved and about the resources and time that might need to be
expended on interacting with the more challenging stakeholders. The more com -
plex the radiological protection problem and the more serious the risk, or even
the perception of the risk, the greater is the justifiable investment in engagement.
In identifying opportunities for engagement it is important to be aware of
changing societal expectations. Changes such as increasing awareness about the
risks associated with some activities, concerns over environmental deterioration
or loss of public confidence in some organisations are all likely to broaden or
shift the range of stakeholders that need to be engaged.
Principle 2
Initiate the process as early as possible and develop a sustainable imple-
mentation plan
Feed-back experience has shown that involving stakeholders, as early as pos-
sible, in decision-aiding processes will generally improve the mutual understand-
ing of the situation, and therefore may avoid reaching a deadlock at a later stage.
Although it may increase the duration of the process, involving stakeholders will
generally facilitate better cooperation between all participants and lead to more
acceptable and robust decisions.
At the early stage of the decision-aiding process, involving stakeholders will
give the opportunity to develop together a sustainable plan in terms of scope,
objectives, timetable and milestones, deliverables, knowledge production, finan -
cial support etc. In order to improve the sustainability of the process, a reasonable
approach, shared by all participants, should be adopted when defining this plan.
The process has to be proportionate to the realities of the situation, and take into
account the stakeholders’ time and opportunity to participate according to their
particular circumstances. Finally, it has to be kept in mind that it will be necessary
to revise and adapt the plan as the situation evolves.
Principle 3
Enable an open, inclusive and transparent stakeholder engagement process
Openness, inclusiveness and transparency, which are interrelated, should con-
stitute the essence of a successful stakeholder engagement process and should
always be present. They are the basis for understanding, creating confidence in the
process and promoting it. They may be supported by collectively agreed rules and
mechanisms for their assessment.
The process should include all the relevant stakeholders, extending repre-
sentation beyond the obvious candidates to all those perceived to have a share
OCR for page 334
334 APPENDIX D
in or an impact associated with the risks of the endeavour under consideration.
Different expertise and sensibilities will generally enrich the process and give
more validity to the results.
All the issues entering into the decision should be considered, with openness,
to identify, select and discuss any associated uncertainties.
During the process, it is important to share the information needed to build
a collective understanding of the problem, starting in particular with risk com -
munication. The flow of information should be quick, concise, clear to all and
honest (in terms of accuracy, uncertainty etc.). By default, information should be
accessible to all, but recognising that some information truly requires protection.
Rather than withholding information on grounds of personal or national security
or confidentiality, it is preferable to have it presented in a different way, rather
than agree its omission.
It would be helpful to build, grow, review and maintain a common knowledge
pool, identifying a responsible ‘gatekeeper’ or ‘custodian’ for the knowledge pool
who is trusted and respected by all parties.
Principle 4
Seek out and involve relevant stakeholders and experts.
A key part of decision-aiding is to be very clear over what is the issue in
question, the scope of the problem and the factors that may be relevant. Inherent
to this process is the need to identify those who can and should contribute; in
short, ensuring that an appropriate diverse range of views are included. The radio -
logical protection professional can help to promote this approach, as radiological
protection is, by its nature, an interdisciplinary science.
There is a need to reach out to other disciplines and stakeholders, making
them aware of the issues under consideration. Without this first step relevant
factors may not come to light, undermining the validity and sustainability of any
decisions. For example experts in one discipline may not be aware of knock on
effects in other areas. Similarly if the net of consultation has been set wide enough
to elicit “no comment” replies, this is useful information to support the bounding
of the issue. Bringing together all the diverse views may be an iterative process,
particularly for large scale decision making that may involve socio-economic fac-
tors. Thus it should be accepted that the initial set of stakeholders may not be the
final set. The process can be a dynamic one with stakeholders joining, but also
leaving, throughout.
There is a need to have respect for information and knowledge gained
through individuals’ experience as well as that from scientific and technical
experts. Some issues, particularly high profile ones, bring with them stakeholders
with significantly different points of views. It is important that there is engage -
ment with, rather than avoidance of, these different groups. Inevitably there
OCR for page 335
335
APPENDIX D
will be conflicting views and information. How these are evaluated within the
decision-aiding process is a separate but important element (see principles 3 and
5), however it is clear that obtaining a full spectrum of views is important.
Principle 5
Ensure that the roles and responsibilities of all participants, and the rules
for cooperation are clearly defined
A clear definition, at the beginning of the process, of the roles and responsi-
bilities of the different categories of participants (for example, experts, authori -
ties, sponsors, lay persons, decision maker versus decision taker, . . .), is important
to obtain a shared understanding of what is expected from each and the extent of
the influence they may have. In addition it will be helpful to set out clearly the
rules under which cooperation can be achieved. A clear delineation of the con -
sultation phase and the decision phase, as well as a clear understanding of where
individuals’ responsibilities and accountabilities begin and end is essential to
clarify the conditions of the engagement. Potential conflicts of interest should be
declared by all parties. It may be helpful for radiological protection professionals
to make reference to their own Code of Ethics.
One of the objectives of stakeholder engagement in a decision-aiding process
is to promote dialogue and mutual understanding, but not necessarily to reach
a consensus on all aspects of the situation. It is thus important to preserve the
autonomy of the different categories of participants concerning their points of
view or their evaluation of the situation. This delineation of roles is a key element
to create the conditions for the participants to contribute to the improvement of
the evaluation of the situation and the radiation protection options.
Beyond clarifying the roles and responsibilities, sharing the rules of coopera-
tion between the participants will also favour the success of the process.
Principle 6
Collectively develop objectives for the stakeholder engagement process,
based on a shared understanding of issues and boundaries.
The need for a collective approach to developing process objectives is
implied by application of the other principles. Principle 2 talks of the devel -
opment of a sustainable plan, Principle 4 of identifying the responsibility of
contributors and of scoping problems and factors, and Principle 5 of the need
to co-operate.
Lack of collectivism disenfranchises stakeholders, whereas working along-
side each other allows a tight group to emerge which is then capable of explicitly
defining the process objectives. The group is then in a position to validate these
OCR for page 336
336 APPENDIX D
against its shared understanding of issues and boundaries, as well as to collec -
tively agree the scope or remit for the work.
Once the objectives are identified in principle then the discussions can extend
to ensuring that they are refined in the light of the resources available. The realism
brought about by this dialogue invariably leads to more harmonious working by
avoiding feelings of frustration with the process that might be perceived as more
imposed than negotiated.
Principle 7
Develop a culture which values a shared language and understanding, and
favours collective learning.
In order for all stakeholders to fully appreciate the factors entering into the
decision they must be able to understand what is being said. This understanding
can be seriously compromised by the use of jargon and technical language as well
as acronyms and abbreviations. The radiological protection professional should
be motivated to develop a “common language” sufficiently precise scientifically
not to offend the various experts but also sufficiently rooted in common, every-
day experience to be meaningful to all those involved. Part of this approach is
likely to involve formal and informal training of stakeholders leading to the cre -
ation of a shared knowledge base incorporating those technical concepts essential
to a full understanding of the issues.
Principle 8
Respect and value the expression of different perspectives.
It is important that each participant in the process recognises their own and
each others’ uniqueness, and, because of this, is aware that other participants
have different backgrounds and sensibilities and, therefore, may view issues from
different perspectives.
Participants should be aware that some may be experts in their own field, and
the integration of their views is an important step in the process, whilst accepting
challenges to expert opinion. Evaluation of uncertainties in the assessments where
expert opinion is divided should be undertaken in an open, accessible and clear
manner. Experts should recognise the limits of their mandate.
Respect for one another’s view encourages a wide range of thoughts and
ideas which can be evaluated as a whole during the engagement process. This
acceptance of diverse perspectives, thinking and values has the potential to enrich
the process, providing that the process is controlled such that any entrenched
views and ideologies, if present, are managed by agreed mechanisms. In a similar
way, seemingly radical or novel opinions should not be dismissed out of hand, but
OCR for page 337
337
APPENDIX D
evaluated with respect in the same way as other ideas. It is important that each
individual can see their own contribution in the record of the meetings.
Participants should be aware that rational thought, respect and acceptance
of opinions will tend to be challenged or obscured when discussing issues which
are emotive, or issues which have attracted significant media or political interest.
Efforts should be made if this happens to restore the desirable climate of mutual
respect and cooperation.
Principle 9
Ensure a regular feedback mechanism is in place to inform and improve
current and future stakeholder engagement processes
When engaging with stakeholders an opportunity should be provided for
both the stakeholders and those responsible for the process to give feedback on
the approaches and tools used and on the outcomes. This serves to inform and
improve ongoing processes as well as influencing how future processes should
be conducted. The following types of criteria might be included in the evalu -
ation: appropriateness of the terms and timing of engagement, the quality and
appropriateness of the information provided; comprehensiveness of the issues that
were addressed; inclusivity in terms of the number and diversity of stakeholders
involved and the nature of that engagement; practicability and feasibility of the
eventual outcomes.
Stakeholder engagement commonly involves a series of meetings, discus-
sions and other types of face-to-face encounters. These provide continuous
learning opportunities to be discussed by the group at the end of each meet -
ing, whereby agreements on improvements in the management of subsequent
meetings are agreed. It should be recognised that implementation of changes
may require additional resources and so any improvements agreed upon must be
realistic and achievable.
When a stakeholder engagement process comes to an end, it is important
that those responsible for the process make the results known to all those who
participated. If these results do not reflect the recommendations or findings from
the stakeholders, those responsible must offer an explanation to the stakeholders
for any deviation from what was agreed. In this way, the feedback of results and
decisions will help to maintain confidence in the process.
Tangible improvements in stakeholder engagement resulting from the estab-
lishment of a constructive feedback mechanism will contribute to a more sus -
tainable process, which could serve as a role model for future engagement.
Dissemination of the lessons learned, achievements and how challenges can be
met should be carried out as widely as possible among the radiological protec -
tion community.
OCR for page 338
338 APPENDIX D
Principle 10
Apply the IRPA Code of Ethics in their actions within these processes to
the best of their knowledge.
Throughout the stakeholder engagement process, the radiological protec -
tion professional should be bound by the IRPA Code of Ethics or an equivalent
National Code.
