Work Package 5 builds on Work Package 3 and Work Package 4 to apply and evaluate a range of innovative methodological approaches and tools for engaging stakeholders (such as decision-makers, aquatic managers, practitioners, IAS researchers, marina users, aquaculture and fishing sectors) and the public, improving literacy and awareness about aquatic IAS, their impacts, and management options.

In Work Package 5 on stakeholder engagement and social-ecological interactions, we are developing and applying innovative approaches and tools to engage with stakeholders and the general public. We aim to raise awareness and literacy about the impacts of aquatic invasive species and management options. An important element of our work package is inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration: we have different research backgrounds including ecology, social sciences and humanities, and work together with artists and designers. We are also investigating social-ecological interactions of aquatic invasive species, and we are assessing the usefulness of the approaches and tools that we develop.

Work Package 5 rejects the outdated “deficit model” of one-way science communication, opting instead for a multi-way dialogue and engagement model, utilizing recent advances in citizen science. Work Package 5 approaches are inter- and transdisciplinary in nature, as they will be developed and applied with researchers from the social, economic, and political sciences and humanities as well as artists, designers, and management practitioners. They can be described as STEAM approaches, as they integrate Arts into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines. 

Engagement of citizens will be achieved through art performances and practical activities that stimulate broadening of perceptions, behavioural changes, and desire to take action.