Involving Stakeholders in the Risk Governance Process

Stakeholder involvement is a necessary part of risk governance, especially when there is uncertainty or ambiguity concerning a risk. Efforts to assess, evaluate, manage and communicate the risk must account for the perceptions, concerns and opinions of stakeholders. This is just as necessary as the technical assessment of risk, or the risk management methods and tools themselves. The present document focusses primarily on the reasoning behind engaging stakeholders, while providing some general principles on how to involve stakeholders. It concludes by drawing attention to the major benefits and challenges of involving stakeholders in an appropriate manner.