Types of stakeholder
Stakeholders may be classified in many different ways. Often, the main distinction tends to be between policy-makers and the public. This, however, ignores the subtle, and often overlapping, roles that stakeholders may play in environmental health issues. The consequence may also be that the variations in perceptions and interest (e.g. within the general public) are not recognised. The table below gives a more detailed breakdown of the different types of stakeholder that might need to be considered in an integrated impact assessment. Examples of the range of stakeholders who can be involved in specific issues and assessments are given via the links below.
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Category
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Explanation
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Perpetrators
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Individuals or groups who are responsible for generating the events or motivating the changes that ultimately cause the health impacts.
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Purveyors
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Individuals or groups who may deliberately or accidentally act to transmit the effects through the wider population (e.g. carriers of a disease; distributors of contaminated foodstuffs).
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Victims
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People and organisations who will be involuntarily affected by the issue (e.g. subject to the risks); usually members of the public.
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Beneficiaries
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People and organisations who stand to benefit from the issue, or from its management (e.g. commercial organisations who can sell their services as a result).
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Informants
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People and organisations who provide information on the issue and its associated consequences (e.g. scientists, monitoring agencies, risk assessors, media).
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Managers
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People and organisations responsibilities for managing the issue and/or its consequences (e.g. policy-makers, regulators, planners, emergency services, health services).
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Briggs, D.J. and Stern, R. 2007 Risk response to environmental hazards to health – towards an ecological approach. Journal of Risk Research 10, 593-622.
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