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Step 5: Civil Society Engagement
Engage with stakeholders and community for MAR implementation
SELECTED SITE
No site selected - Please select a site in Step 1
Step 5: Civil Society Engagement
Engage with stakeholders and community for MAR implementation
SELECTED SITE
No site selected - Please select a site in Step 1
Engagement level
Select the level of engagement you aim to reach. Before involving civil society and stakeholders, make sure they are aware of how MAR can help prevent groundwater contamination — if not, start with the "Aware" activities. You will get the demo site activities and the general catalogue activities that target that level.
Target level of engagement
Please select a demo site in Step 1 to see specific stakeholder information.
MAR2PROTECT enables the engagement of stakeholders in adopting innovative digital technologies as solutions for strengthening and enhancing the sustainability of the European water industry.
The civil society engagement strategy of MAR2PROTECT embraces the need for an increasingly active role of societal actors in preventing water contamination through changes in daily practices and global warming management. In this project, we therefore engage diverse stakeholders in a variety of ways throughout the project activities.
Civil society engagement
The engagement of civil society (e.g. citizens, communities, non-governmental organisations) is crucial for effective groundwater pollution prevention, as this can foster a shared responsibility and strengthen the impact of protective measures.
Initially, individuals may be uninformed about issues related to groundwater pollution, but through increased awareness, they can begin to understand the challenges. This understanding can lead to deeper involvement, where people start to contribute their time and effort to local initiatives. Further engagement can transform them into active participants, taking on more significant roles in projects and community efforts. Ultimately, some people may become advocates, championing causes, demonstrating leadership, and driving activism to influence broader policy and societal change.
However, if conditions are not conducive or engagement is mishandled, individuals might become indifferent, unwilling to participate, or even actively oppose initiatives, highlighting the need for careful and sustained community engagement strategies.
Source: Wehn & Vallejo (2025), adapted from Montalvo et al. (2021) and Massari (2020)
Co-design of civil society engagement
The MAR2PROTECT Demo Site teams co-designed civil society engagement interventions to address specific groundwater pollution challenges via the selection of appropriate interventions for each respective Demo Site. This is particularly important because poorly crafted interventions risk being unsustainable or rejected, as individuals' groundwater management practices are strongly influenced by cultural, traditional, and socio-economic factors (Trevett and Carter, 2008). It also allowed embedding the civil society engagement activity within a broader set of regional/local groundwater management strategies rather than treating it as isolated events.
The co-design sessions undertaken by the MAR2PROTECT Demo Sites with stakeholders from civil society, the public and the private sector, included discussions on how community actions and behaviours affect groundwater quality, as well as on the role and relevance of civil society in preventing groundwater contamination and depletion.
The activities then centred on jointly identifying civil society engagement activities in which the Demo Site leaders and the participants could cooperate. This generated a collection of potential engagement activities that could be carried out by the participants and with limited financial support from the MAR2PROTECT project.
The co-design participants agreed on a set of selection criteria to prioritise specific civil society engagement activities, then applied them to a longer list of brainstormed results to reach consensus on at least three activities for joint implementation.
Explore activities by demo site
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