Typologizing Stakeholder Information Use to Better Understand the Impacts of Collaborative Climate Science

Area of Science:

• Climate science
• Environmental management
• Information science

Background:

• Growing interest in producing usable climate information for land and natural resource managers.
• Shift towards collaborative, stakeholder-driven climate science approaches.
• Limited literature on specific stakeholder use of climate information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how stakeholders use climate information from collaborative projects.
• To identify common types of information use among stakeholders.
• To inform the design of climate information products for resource managers.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of stakeholder use of climate information from 13 collaborative projects in the western US (2012-2016).
• Application of theoretical, typological, and evaluation insights from information use studies.
• Categorization of observed stakeholder use into distinct types.

Main Results:

• Three primary types of stakeholder use were identified: conceptual, instrumental, and justification.
• Conceptual use was the most predominant form of information engagement.
• Findings highlight varied ways stakeholders interact with and utilize climate data.

Conclusions:

• Researcher awareness of information use typologies can improve understanding of project impacts.
• Systematic analysis of stakeholder use can guide the development of more effective climate information products.
• Enhanced design of climate information can better support land and natural resource management decisions.