Lessons Learned from Ireland MML workshops

Milestone 1

• Plan the stakeholders carefully to ensure that the right people, stakeholder groups and organisations are in the room;
• Involve all interested stakeholders;
• Recruit participants based on their interest, research, business or experience related to the workshop topic;
• Offer an incentive for citizens in order to attract people to attend at the workshop;
• Find a topic which will attract different stakeholders;
• Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) can help to overcome the current marine and societal challenges and unlock the potential for Blue Growth;
• There is a strong need for redefining and refocusing the business model of tourism.

Milestone 2

• Define the initiative's broad goals from a policy, social / cultural, economic, technological perspective;
• Present the Mobilisation and Mutual Learning and RRI approach;
• Perform an analysis of publics' behaviours before engaging the public engagement;
• Use audience targeted communication for all types stakeholders to engage them.

Milestone 3

• Use methods that offer to the participants the opportunity to interact and to have open discussions;
• Explain the participatory method used to the participants as clearly and in a shorter time;
• Choose a familiar methodology for participants;
• Use a method that gives the opportunity to all participants to express their opinion;
• Create the opportunity to network and discuss, in order to identify the key marine and societal challenges for the Wave Energy Sector;
• Make a clear presentation of the debated issue and its current status;
• Stimulate and ensure open dialogue among the attendees;
• Use of different communications platforms/technologies to communicate with stakeholders and make data accessible;
• Use new communications channels and IT technologies as opportunities to engage with communities;
• Develop webinars for cross-sectorial stakeholder engagement;
• Plan the programme to encourage as much opportunity for interactions between participants;
• Bring people and particularly the young on location where they can have transformative experiences that they will seek to relieve throughout their lives;
• Engage young potential "citizen scientists" in schools to promote the issue at hand;
• All relevant stakeholders need to be involved in the process of developing sustainable tourism ventures within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs);
• Achieve positive engagement with all types of local stakeholders including relevant government agencies, local businesses, regulators, NGOs, CSOs, researchers and citizens;
• Clarify from the start of any process or workshop all terms and acronyms so that all participants from various backgrounds understand them;
• Explain clearly the workshop methodology and how the outputs will be used at the beginning of the workshop and include some warm-up activity.

Milestone 4

• Have proactive public participation from stakeholders, in particular from government and industry;
• Encourage and promote marine involvement for all stakeholders;
• Increase the level of awareness of Marine Spatial Planning process and it's implication in coastal communities and for all stakeholders;
• Promote best practice cross sectorial stakeholder engagement processes through webinars;
• Find the best way to incorporate the multi-disciplinary element into the organisation of the workshop;
• Capture the content in a way that is more free-flowing which is later interpreted by the workshop team;
• The SDD method allows for integrating contributions from individuals with diverse views, backgrounds and perspectives through a process that is structured, inclusive and collaborative;
• Avoiding "Groupthink" and the "Erroneous Priorities Effect": taking measures for the protection of the authenticity of all ideas.

Milestone 5

• Develop a stakeholder engagement plan;
• Implement a coherent national monitoring programme;
• Apply a long-term and crosscutting strategic planning by defining SMART common vision and actions;
• Engage local communities in awareness raising event;
• Developing a spatial plan specific to zoning of areas of offshore renewables;
• Develop a GIS information database;
• Develop a clear communications strategy;
• Use of research and data sets to ensure that decisions are made to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders;
• Develop a national strategy for coastal management and coastal protection;
• Develop a coastal protection strategy that is fit for purpose by all stakeholders;
• Generate ideas for actions during the workshops by having: a) simple, short title; one line describing the idea and one-two lines (minimum) explaining and clarifying the idea;
• Generate ideas for actions during the workshops by having: b) think who would be responsible for implementing the proposed action and how to engage the person or organisation;
• Generate ideas for actions during the workshops by having: c) timing (when could such an idea be implemented);
• Generate ideas for actions during the workshops by having: d) resources (how would the idea be implemented).

Milestone 6

• Develop a clear understanding around Marine Spacial Planning (MSP) and what its implications are for all stakeholders groups including offshore wind;
• Open data for all interested stakeholders;
• Use of the outcomes of the national monitoring programme as part of a targeted national awareness raising campaign;
• Inform and educate wider society of the impacts, challenges and potential solutions for coastal protection;
• Assess / quantify the social, economic and environmental risk;
• Science & Education and Open Access have a vital role in achieving success in the development of sustainable tourism ventures within Marine Protected Areas;
• Each initiative on sustainable tourism products requires the right expertise (knowledge and skills) and institutional participatory processes that will support stakeholders' successful involvement;
• Consider the impacts of any activity before consenting which may require the deployments of monitoring technologies to facilitate monitoring and impact assessment;
• Coordinate all activities related to policy, planning and regulation in the best possible way to reduce conflict and help meet environmental, economic and social objectives.

Milestone 7

• The ultimate aim should be to develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts and to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products;
• Build capacity through education by developing local and national programmes for secondary schools and outreach programmes through citizen projects utilising real-time data from monitoring equipment;
• Try to engage volunteer groups/stakeholders who use the specific environment on a regular basis.

Milestone 8

• Attract private investments and develop national projects;
• Attract students into engineering courses;
• Build the appropriate infrastructure and technology for the Wave Energy Sector;
• Ensure the policies are socially inclusive and are widely known;
• Use of technology as an instrument to both monitor the regulations and to disseminate data in near real-time.

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