Executive summary:
This document describes for what purpose and how we will engage various stakeholders in our research, as well as how this engagement will be organised, managed and supervised. It constitutes the rules of engagement or terms of reference for the stakeholder engagement, defines the governance bodies, and provides guidelines and shared principles that will govern the conduct of all parties involved in the inclusive research process. The rules of engagement are built on the Talanoa Dialogues, with the objective of creating and enforcing respectful and constructive exchanges throughout the entire co-creation process. These rules will ensure that our research is conducted in an ethical, responsible and professional manner.
We are committed to conducting rigorous and high-quality research that adheres to principles of ethics and research integrity outlined in the EU Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program. This includes obtaining informed consent from participants, protecting their confidentiality and privacy, and being transparent and honest about research methods and findings. Inclusive dialogue, storytelling, and serious games will be used to facilitate negotiations among stakeholders with different levels of empowerment and resources. The project also prioritizes compliance with relevant laws and regulations and responsible handling of data.
The governance structure including the roles and responsibilities of the project team, members of the knowledge networks, and the designated oversight bodies. It also covers operational management of the networks, including key strategies and best practices. This document also describes data management aspects, intellectual property rights and communication strategy of the project as far as these aspects are directly affecting the knowledge networks. All these aspects are fully explored in separate documents covering all project activities. In this document, we only describe aspects that are relevant to stakeholder engagement and knowledge networks.
The rules of engagement will be rigorously enforced to create a collaborative and inclusive research atmosphere. From the beginning, we will convey the rules of engagement clearly to all participating stakeholders. We will establish feedback mechanisms, enabling stakeholders to express concerns or propose enhancements. This ongoing communication will support the adjustment and improvement of the rules of engagement as needed, guaranteeing their efficacy and pertinence throughout the project’s duration.