Skills & services

Participation becomes useful when it reveals trade-offs, incentives and what is actually feasible

MER supports stakeholder engagement and socio-economic approaches for marine and coastal projects through interviews, surveys, workshops, local ecological knowledge, co-design and management-facing social evidence.

Discuss an engagement initiative or socio-economic study Back to services

Technical data alone rarely explains why a measure will succeed, why users resist it, or which trade-offs matter most on the ground. MER combines stakeholder mapping, interviews, surveys, local ecological knowledge, facilitated workshops and management-oriented synthesis so marine and coastal projects can incorporate how people use an area, what they depend on, what they can realistically support, and where conflicts or opportunities emerge. This can link directly with marine spatial planning and integrated coastal management, fisheries and coastal communities, structured citizen science and wider programme or project design.

This includes participatory governance, co-management design, perception and acceptability surveys, livelihoods and value-chain review, tourism and fisheries linkages, local ecological knowledge capture, structured consultation and practical feedback loops that show how participation changed the final recommendation or action.

Services, skills & methods

Stakeholder mapping and actor analysis To identify who matters, how they influence outcomes and when they need to be involved.
Interviews, surveys and local ecological knowledge To capture practical knowledge, use patterns, perceptions and long-term change that monitoring alone may miss.
Workshops, facilitation and co-design sessions To move from parallel viewpoints toward realistic options, measures and shared priorities.
Socio-economic baselines, livelihoods and value-chain review To understand how measures affect users, incentives, viability and wider community outcomes.
Conflict, trade-off and acceptability analysis So recommendations reflect implementation constraints, not only technical desirability.
Advisory groups, co-management and implementation feedback To keep participation credible after consultation ends and during decision follow-through.

Toolsets & analytical approaches

MER delivers stakeholder engagement through surveys, semi-structured interviews, and local ecological knowledge elicitation, alongside advisory committee formation, partnership building, workshops, landing surveys, public events, and direct collaboration with management authorities. These activities are underpinned by structured approaches, including stakeholder mapping, interview guides, perception surveys, participatory mapping, and both qualitative and quantitative analysis (e.g. thematic coding and basic statistics), supported by transparent and auditable decision logs.

Typical outputs

  • Stakeholder maps and engagement plans
  • Interview and survey findings with management relevance
  • Socio-economic baseline sections and livelihoods summaries
  • Workshop records, option sets and co-designed measures
  • Advisory-group frameworks and participation roadmaps
  • Decision-support briefs showing trade-offs, feasibility and next steps

Example Projects

Co-management Akrotiri Peninsula Bottom-up participatory work using interviews, local ecological knowledge, socio-economic information and an Advisory Committee to shape management measures. Management design Lara-Toxeftra CARE Stakeholders and local authorities contribute directly to a climate-adaptive management plan designed to be feasible and sustainable in practice. Alternative livelihoods PROMETHEUS Community and stakeholder engagement with fishers supports alternative sustainable practices, fundraising pathways and responsible dive-tourism actions. Value-chain approach Fish the Alien II Fishers, hotels and restaurants are linked through an alliance that supports local livelihoods, market uptake and sustainable tourism around invasive catch.

Frequently asked questions

What does MER mean by stakeholder engagement and socio-economic approaches?

It means combining participation with evidence on people, livelihoods, use patterns, incentives and feasibility so decisions are more realistic and easier to implement.

Can MER support both consultation and deeper co-design or co-management processes?

Yes. MER can support one-off consultations, structured workshops, interviews, advisory groups and longer co-management or participatory-governance approaches.

Can MER work with authorities, local users and businesses at the same time?

Yes. MER can design processes that involve authorities, community groups, fishers, tourism actors, NGOs and other users around shared evidence and practical options.

Does MER only gather social inputs, or also help translate them into decisions?

MER can do both. The team can collect socio-economic and stakeholder evidence and also turn it into option sets, trade-off analysis and management-facing recommendations.