Using a Phosphorus Flow Diagram as a Boundary Object to Inform Stakeholder Engagement

Ashton W. Merck (), Khara D. Grieger, Alison Deviney and Anna-Maria Marshall
Additional contact information
Ashton W. Merck: Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Khara D. Grieger: Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Alison Deviney: North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Anna-Maria Marshall: Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-10

Abstract: Phosphorus (P) is essential for life on Earth, yet its current management is unsustainable. Stakeholder engagement is urgently needed to help ensure that scientific and technical solutions to improve P sustainability meet the needs of diverse groups, yet there are comparatively few studies that provide insights into stakeholder views, perceptions, or concerns. In this opinion, we use a mass flow diagram of P as a boundary object to understand the complex challenges of sustainable P management. In particular, we map US stakeholder groups onto the mass flow diagram to incorporate human factors into mass flows at a national scale. Our approach is grounded in well-established social–scientific methodologies, such as stakeholder mapping and social network analysis, but is applied in a novel way that can be generalized to other mass flows and geographic areas. We then suggest ways that researchers can use the annotated flow diagram to identify both knowledge gaps and research gaps in stakeholder engagement, especially in interdisciplinary or convergence research contexts.

Keywords: stakeholder engagement; phosphorus; sustainability; boundary object (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11496/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11496/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:11496-:d:1201961

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().