The general objectives of stakeholders engagement are manifold and are motivated by a wide range of aims:
- Better tailoring the project results to the needs, expectations and capacities of those interested and affected, thus fostering ownership and acceptance towards the project results, ensuring their better and sustainable usability and avoid costly mistakes and maintaining the stakeholders’ interest throughout the process
- Maximise the project’s impact by increasing its visibility and ensuring that project outcomes reach a wide audience of relevant stakeholders
- Raise awareness on water issues and sensitising the public to conflict-prone issues
- Increase trust and acceptability for nature-based and unconventional groundwater management solutions
- Empower society for climate change adaptation and sustainable groundwater management
- Create new networks and exchange platforms to help bridging science-policy-practice gap
- Foster solution transfer, integration and upscaling
- Streamline policy recommendations at national, regional and local level
- Linking AGREEMAR to other projects and initiatives fostering sustainable groundwater management in the Mediterranean region, exchange experiences, and seek collaboration opportunities to join efforts
- Engagement comes with a high level of transparency and appreciation of stakeholders, thereby increasing trust among them, fostering buy-in and support for new initiatives and compliance with new regulations
- In the long term, stakeholder engagement can improve service delivery to the local community. Overall, the right to participation can benefit society as a whole by contributing to a more inclusive and pluralistic society.