Stakeholder engagement to address concerns and opportunities related to the carbon cycle
J. L. JONES, J. TRAMMELL, M. BABBAR-SEBENS, A. KLISKEY, A. MARSHALL, P. WILLIAMS, K. L. KLINE, V. H. DALE
Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, Hogan Hall, 2910 Broadway, Level A, New York, NY 10025

Effects of human activities are such an integral part of all ecosystems that Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems can be characterized as anthropogenic biomes (anthromes). Hence it is essential to engage people in identifying and understanding the causes and effects of the terrestrial carbon cycle and its drivers of change. However, effective stakeholder engagement for complex environmental challenges requires substantial time and resources by both the research organization and the stakeholders themselves, making co-production of knowledge challenging for many research efforts. To help research teams prioritize, prepare, and sustain stakeholder-engaged research, we developed an approach for effective co-production based on six gears of engagement: diversity, listening, value, trust, accountability, and flexibility/adaptability. Building local capacities for continual improvement is also an enabling factor for more sustainable development. We discuss the gears, and the challenges of implementing them, in the context of human effects on the carbon cycle. While it is difficult to incorporate all the gears, this approach can help to foster more sustained, actionable, equitable, inclusive, and timely engagement of people in addressing concerns and opportunities related to the carbon cycle.