DCNA, its stakeholders and our public affairs strategy

Transcription

1 DCNA, its stakehlders and ur public affairs strategy Intrductin During the first ten years f DCNA a lt has been achieved. Let me just name a few milestnes: a prfessinal Trust Fund is nw in place and will start t pay ut its revenues t the park rganisatins as f this year; DCNA has becme - and remains a trusted partner f the Dutch Pstcde Lttery (NPL); and DCNA has played an imprtant rle in upgrading the quality f the administratin f many f the park rganisatins; Indeed within the Dutch Caribbean DCNA is by far the mst successful rganisatin in its kind. Other ng s (such as mnument fundatins and library rganisatins n the islands and in Suriname) see us as an example. Based n the successful first ten years the DCNA Bard decided t start a transfrmatin prcess t mve DCNA int a new phase. There are a number f gd reasns t d this: funding fr DCNA and the Trust Fund is diminishing and it seems mre and mre difficult t find new funders; the park rganisatins indicate that they want supprt frm DCNA n a higher level and mre tailr made (less in the field f nature cnservatin and mre in fields such as marketing, HRM, legal advice etc.); thrughut the Dutch Caribbean nature issues nwadays mre and mre require plitical decisins and legal actins (Ostpunt in Curaca, the size f the marine park in Statia, effective enfrcement in all the parks, the cral reef prtectin n all islands, the prtectin frm develpment f Bubali in Aruba etc). The psitin f the park rganisatins and DCNA in these plitical spheres (bth n the islands as in The Hague) has remained smewhat underdevelped. This paper wants t fcus n this last tpic: the rle f DCNA in helping park rganisatins t influence public pinin and decisin makers n the islands and the rle f DCNA f influencing public pinin and decisin makers n behalf f (and in cllabratin with) the park rganisatins in The Hague. I decided nt t use the term lbbying anymre because that wrd has gtten a negative cnntatin and mre imprtantly: we are nt lbbyists, but nature lvers that want t cnvince thers f the imprtance f what we believe in. Anther reasn nt t use the term lbbying is that its definitin is rather limited. Lbbying is generally defined as seeking t influence an elected fficial n a matter f public plicy. Lbbyists wrk directly with elected fficials and their staffs t cnceptualize, craft and prmte (r blck) the legislatin, regulatin, r ther gvernment decisins, actins, r plicies. Lbbyists can be prfessinals wh wrk fr a range f clients r they can be inhuse emplyees f a trade assciatin, ng, labur unin, large crpratin r ther interest grup. Lbbyists may als be vlunteers wh simply feel strngly enugh abut a particular issue t spend time advcating fr it. Public affairs and stakehlder analysis in general Public affairs is much brader than the traditinal lbbying in parliament r with ministers/cmmissiners and their civil servants. Public affairs is the term that describes the 1

2 intercnnected disciplines f public relatins 1 and lbbying. It cmbines all the tls f PR media relatins, advertising, digital cmmunicatins, calitin building and grassrts rganisatin t achieve a specific public plicy bjective. Such an bjective culd be the passage r blckage f legislatin r any ther type f gvernment decisin (r lack f decisin ) etc. Public affairs prfessinals can wrk as traditinal lbbyists t build supprt in the plitical sphere but they als wrk with ther stakehlders, in the media, nline and n Main Street, creating understanding and public supprt. Thinking f public affairs f any private r public rganisatin the term stakehlder immediately cmes t mind. A stakehlder can be defined as any individual, grup, r institutin wh has a vested interest in a certain prject, r a certain activity r in a public r private sectr rganisatin as a whle. Stakehlders are all thse wh need t be cnsidered in achieving plicy r prject gals and whse participatin and supprt are crucial t yur success. Stakehlder analysis identifies all primary and secndary stakehlders wh have a vested interest in the issues with which the prject r plicy is cncerned. Fr DCNA the cre issue f curse wuld be helping thse wrking n nature cnservatin in the Dutch Caribbean. The gal f stakehlder analysis is t develp a strategic view f the human and institutinal landscape, and the relatinships between the different stakehlders and the issues they care abut mst. There are three essential steps in any stakehlder analysis: 1) Identifying all relevant stakehlders and their interests (psitive r negative); 2) Assessing the influence and imprtance f each stakehlder; and 3) Identifying hw best t engage each f the stakehlders. The increasing scpe and ambitin f DCNA require a cmmitment t dialgue and cllabratin with a diverse range f stakehlders. Dialgue that is pen and transparent is critical t lng-term success. WWF-experts have had a lt f experience with stakehlder analysis, stakehlder management and stakehlder cllabratin, especially in designing and implementing prgrammes and prjects. The lessns they learned are: Gals must be precisely frmulated and clarified befre engaging stakehlders. Gals help identify and target thse interests that are abslutely vital, that n a lwer lever need t be represented and thse that can be left ut. It is fundamental that enugh time be taken t explre stakehlder views, values and perspectives s that an understanding f their specific interests and the human and institutinal landscape can be established. All key stakehlders must be invlved in the design and implementatin f any activities, plicies and prjects if successful and lasting results are t be achieved. Deciding wh is inside r utside will always be relevant t prject utcmes and t their sustainability. It is imprtant that stakehlder participatin nt be exclusive, r cntrlled r dminated by any ne grup. 1 Public relatins is a very brad term describing a prfessin that fcuses n using cmmunicatin t achieve a wide variety f gals. PR practitiners use a variety f tactics and tls t achieve their bjectives including earned and paid media, scial media and ther frms f digital cmmunicatins, staging events, calitin building and the like. 2

3 Stakehlder cllabratin is a prcess that requires the pprtunity and space fr all invlved t listen t and learn frm ne anther. It is imprtant t create spaces fr stakehlders t cme tgether t develp and share their visins and agendas. Stakehlder classificatin and management After having fund hundreds f different stakehlders r mre it is f curse necessary t priritize them. If yu lk at the interest (in DCNA) and the influence/imprtance f each individual stakehlder they can be divided int fur distinct categries. The picture underneath shws these fur grups and als tells us hw t treat each ne f them. The key stakehlders f curse shuld receive mst f ur attentin and by trying t increase the interest f thse inside the yellw and green categries t mve them further t the right. Besides nting the influence/imprtance and interest f the stakehlder it is als imprtant t think abut the interests f the stakehlder: what is in it fr him r her? And what exactly d we want (and nt want) frm him f her? If yu want t increase a persn s interest fr what we are selling we must knw what makes that persn tick. DCNA and its stakehlders The stakehlder analysis fr DCNA shuld prvide at first answers t the fllwing questins: Wh are the mst imprtant stakehlders? What is the stakehlders' knwledge f DCNA? What are the stakehlders' psitins n DCNA? What d the stakehlders see as pssible advantages r disadvantages f DCNA? What exactly d we ask f them? What is in it fr them? What interests d they have? The DCNA stakehlders can be fund in the Netherlands, n the Dutch Caribbean islands and utside the Kingdm as a whle (frm Marigt and the Caribbean till Brussels and the USA). 3

4 First we shuld nt frget ur internal stakehlders: ur Bard and staff and thers we cnsider as being part f the DCNA family: DCNA staff members DCNA bard members DCNA patrns Princess Beatrix / Jaap Leeuwenburg Jaime Saleh Park rganisatins bard members (in particular the chairpersns) Park rganisatins staff members The abvementined internal stakehlders are f key imprtance t the success f ur rganisatin. But there are sme mre relevant stakehlders cming frm different segments f sciety. They all can be placed in the bx n page 3 t define hw imprtant each f them is. Present and future dnrs/funders Natinale Pstcde Lterij (NPL) Ministry f Ecnmic Affairs f the Netherlands (EZ; at the mment nly fr prjects and activities in the BES islands) Vgelbescherming NL Eurpean Cmmissin WWF / WNF Waitt Institute Gvernmental actrs Gvernrs, Prime Ministers and Ministers fr the Envirnment frm Aruba, Curaca and Sint Maarten Ministers f BZK and EZ f the Netherlands Rijksvertegenwrdiger Lieutenant-gvernrs and cmmissiners fr the envirnment f Bnaire, Saba and Statia Members f Parliament and Island Cuncils (in NL the spkespersns n kingdm relatins and nature cnversatin; in Aruba, Curaca and Sint Maarten the Presidents f Parliament and n the BES anyne with a keen interest in nature cnservatin) All senir civil servants wrking fr the abvementined persns All thse active in cmpliance and enfrcement! Plice, Custms, Castguard! Ryal Netherlands Navy! Public Prsecutrs Office Private sectr partners Fishermen Dive peratrs Htels (thse that hst turists cming t the islands fr nature) Z s in NL Seaquarium in Curaca (?) Law firms that want t have a pr-envirnment image (e.g. Van Eps, Kunneman & Van Drne) NGO s in the field f nature cnservatin 4

5 This list can becme very lng, s we must fcus n the mst influential nes lcally r therwise Natuurmnumenten Staatsbsbeheer Turtugaruba Fundatin NGO s wrking in related fields with much influence UNICEF Oranjefnds University s (like Wageningen) Schlbards Media Truw! Jp Buma Vlkskrant! Remc Meijer Natinal Gegraphic Antilliaans Dagblad! René Zwart Amige! Otti Thmas Daily Herald! Grdn Snw (n SXM) and Suzanne Kelega (in NL) Lcal papers in Papiamentu Duiken The lists abve are far frm cmplete, but hpefully the idea is clear. Interesting first cnclusin is that mst f ur imprtant stakehlders are nt themselves wrking n nature cnversatin. They fund prjects, make plicies and laws, enfrce them r write abut it! Next step is t think abut each stakehlder and define his r her interest(s) in ur wrk. When appraching a jurnalist yu shuld nt ask him if he wants t help yu save nature, but yu shuld ask him if he wants a gd stry t write fr his readers. T ften we apprach stakehlders with ur wn interests in mind in stead f fcussing n theirs (and f curse the verlap with urs). The NPL des nt mind saving sharks r helping nature, but their main cncern is gd publicity and selling mre lttery tickets because f that. Fr each stakehlder (r grup f stakehlders) we need als t define ur gal: what d we want frm them? Our interests and gals cmbined with their interests shuld lead t sme fruitful cllabratin. What are ur public affairs gals? Having said all that we shuld clearly define ur gals fr each (grup f) stakehlders. If we lk fr instance at the incming new Dutch gvernment a clear lbby gal with the Ministers / Ministries f EZ and BZK and with the MP s f VVD, CDA, D66 and CU wuld be t make EZ funding fr nature cnservatin available fr all six islands (preferably thrugh DCNA f curse). The argument fr this is simple: nature des nt stp at the brder! Other gals can be frmulated, which is ideally dne with a grup f key stakehlders lcked up in a rm fr a cuple f hurs 5

6 Wh des the wrk? DCNA shuld nt g fr cmmercial public affairs cnsultants r lbbyists. They are expensive and very ften nt s effective. Fr the stakehlder management in the Netherlands it seems lgical t lk at Leendert, Jaap and me, especially when we deal with (ptential) funders and plitics. Other stakehlders can be taken care f by Jaime Saleh (e.g. pliticians in Curaca and Bnaire) r f curse by the secretariat. But befre reaching ut t them the gals must be clearly defined. Wuld lve t brainstrm abut this in December n Curaca! Fr the discussin I wuld like that brainstrm sessin t fcus n the fllwing questins: 1. What shuld be ur cncrete PR gals? 2. Which areas shuld be cnsidered a pririty and why? 3. Wh are ur key stakehlders in thse selected areas? 4. What shuld be ur main message t all f them? 5. Etc. RV