Bridging the Gap Between the Theory and Practices of Stakeholder Participation in Integrated Vulnerability Assessments of Climate Change

In the international climate regime, integrated vulnerability assessments have become the most prominent method of investigating the potential effects of climate change. Vulnerability assessments typically operate on a local to regional level, where it is most likely to inform subsequent decision making. To cope with the inherent complexity of the climate change problem, the corresponding uncertainties and the aim of producing useful and actionable knowledge various degrees of stakeholder participation have become a critical part of participatory integrated vulnerability assessments. The present study relies upon Fiorino’s (Sci Technol Hum Values 15(2):226–243, 1990) heuristic distinctions between the normative, instrumental and substantive rationales of participation, and it investigates two internationally renowned case studies to demonstrate the consequences of the design and conduct of participatory processes. An analysis of the interplay of the purposes and practices of stakeholder integration points to four fundamental challenges of participatory integrated assessments: knowledge integration, interest convergence, causality and representation. At the end two exit options are discussed, which aim to overcome some obstacles of using the concept of participation in the assessment efforts. This paper therefore goes beyond the typical analyses of ways to better organize and steer the process of stakeholder participation and wants to make a contribution to improve future integrated vulnerability assessments of climate change.