Stakeholder Mapping

The EMERGE project's stakeholder engagement strategy is built on a structured, multi-layered methodology designed to ensure that the right voices — from policymakers to local communities — are identified, categorized, and meaningfully engaged throughout the project.

 

The Quadruple Helix Model

Stakeholder engagement is anchored in four core groups, each bringing a distinct perspective to the project:

  1. Policy Makers: Governments, regulators, and local authorities providing the legal and administrative frameworks needed for sustainable energy solutions.
  2. Investors: Private energy companies, technology providers, and SMEs contributing technical expertise, funding, and market-oriented solutions.
  3. Academia: Universities and research institutions supplying the analytical rigor needed to develop and validate energy models.
  4. Civil Society: Local communities, NGOs, and advocacy groups ensuring solutions are inclusive, transparent, and socially equitable.

 

The Three-Layer Approach

Complementing the Quadruple Helix, stakeholders are also grouped by their depth of involvement in the project:

  1. Project Consortium: Partners directly developing and implementing EMERGE, including extended personnel from consortium organizations.
  2. Expert Stakeholders: Individuals and organizations with advanced technical knowledge, engaged to refine and validate modelling tools.
  3. Other Stakeholders: Contributors with broader, more general involvement who provide valuable practical and usability feedback.

Together, these two frameworks allow each stakeholder to be positioned on an interest/influence matrix, helping the project tailor engagement formats and frequency to each group's profile.

 

Selection Criteria

Stakeholders are identified and prioritized using six key criteria:

  1. Relevance to EMERGE's sustainable energy objectives
  2. Influence and capacity to affect policy or implementation
  3. Technical expertise in energy systems, modelling, or policy
  4. Commitment to sustained, long-term participation
  5. Geographic and cultural relevance to the pilot regions
  6. Community advocacy capacity for mobilizing public support

 

Stakeholders Across the Pilot Sites

Stakeholder mapping has been carried out across all three EMERGE pilot regions:

  • Morocco: including University Mohammed I, ONEE, IRESEN, Masen Group, and the Ministry of Energy Transition.
  • Mozambique: including Universidade do Save, DNE/MIREME, EDM, FUNAE, and civil society groups such as AMER and SNV.
  • Niger River Basin (Mali): including ENI-ABT, IPR-IFRA, the National Energy Directorate of Mali, AMADER, and regional water and agriculture committees.

A full breakdown of African and European stakeholders, including their category and expert status, is documented in the consortium's stakeholder register.

 

Lessons Learned

Key takeaways from the stakeholder identification process so far include:

  • Actively reaching out to under-represented groups is essential to avoid narrow perspectives.
  • Local partners are critical for surfacing informal networks and community actors that wouldn't otherwise be visible.
  • Stakeholder lists are treated as living documents, updated continuously as the pilots evolve.
  • Combining the Quadruple Helix and Three-Layer methods allows for a more accurate and transparent classification of each stakeholder's role and potential impact.

 

Materials