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Scope
The ENGAGE – CONCERT project aimed at ENhancinG stAkeholder participation in the GovernancE of radiation risks. The project duration was 25 months starting from November 20, 2017. It analysed and compared stakeholder engagement prescriptions and practices in three contexts:
- medical exposure to ionising radiation;
- emergency and recovery preparedness;
- and exposure to indoor radon.
Goals
ENGAGE aimed at:
- analysing formal discourses pre-scribing or recommending engagement, as formu-lated in international and national legislation and guidelines, and mobilised by different actors;
- highlighting forms of engagement that can be observed in practice;
- investigating the role and potential benefit of radiation protection culture in facilitating stakeholder engagement;
- building a knowledge base and formulating recommendations for more robust stakeholder engagement in radiation protection.
Key results
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Prescriptions and practices for stakeholder engagement were analysed, showing the need to acknowledge its normative and substantive rationales, and to develop more systematic approaches to stakeholder engagement in national policies;
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Participation in radiation protection would benefit from broaden-ing the stakeholders (e.g. by integrating radiation protection into broader frameworks) and the forms of participation (e.g. recognising the importance of informal and citizen-led engagement);
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Radiation protection culture, its aims, target stakeholders and potential role were characterised in different exposure contexts; the need for developing radiation protection culture in a participatory, multi-disciplinary way was highlighted;
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The concept for a knowledge base documenting participatory practices was proposed and illustrated with ENGAGE case studies;
- Recommendations for enhancing stakeholder engagement in radiation protection were codeveloped in interaction with a wide range of stakeholders.
Thanks to EU funding
The cost of the project was € 777,442, with € 475,640 requested EU contribution. The consortium brought together radiation protection authorities, research institutes, public health organisations and academia, representing 10 European countries and all radiation protection platforms. ENGAGE has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No 662287.