Step 2. Identify environmental issues

The core team now has to do a first identification of the BGIN possibilities on the territory and which environmental issue can thus be addressed. ‘Quick and dirty’ but relevant, this stage should offer a first scope in terms of issues, stakeholders to be engaged, geographical territory, time limits,… and will be refined in further stages of the process. At this step, the choice of environmental issue can be set or stay open and be further discussed with a stakeholder panel.

Different tools can be used for the scoping process.

Running exploratory interviews with a few stakeholders who can bring expertise or have a legal or moral claim on the environmental issues can bring a lot of in depth information on different knowledge and points of view on the territory. It also allows a first round of engagement of actors and presentation of the project.

Additional interviews can be run in  Gather expert knowledge – with a wider panel of stakeholders.

Semi-structured interview

Brainstorming with a panel of stakeholders or among the core group, is a powerful and dynamic tool to identify opportunities and options.

Brainstorming

Conceptual mapping – within the core group or during semi-structured interviews – helps identify the connections between issues, options, governance, … Used at this stage, it fosters a system thinking approach that will be refined all along the process.

System mapping tools

This step initiates Step 3 and the first versions of the conceptual maps.