Key Challenges to Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability Contexts: Insights from Researchers and Practitioners

Corieander Griebel; Nourou Barry; Madison D. Horgan; Alison Deviney; S. Kathleen Barnhill; Justin Baker; Khara Grieger

doi:10.3390/su18073549

journal article Open Access Apr 04, 2026

Key Challenges to Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability Contexts: Insights from Researchers and Practitioners

Corieander Griebel Nourou Barry

Madison D. Horgan

Alison Deviney

S. Kathleen Barnhill

Justin Baker Khara Grieger

Sustainability Vol. 18 No. 7 pp. 3549 · MDPI AG

View at Publisher Save 10.3390/su18073549

Abstract

Stakeholder engagement is increasingly recognized as vital to developing interdisciplinary solutions to complex sustainability problems, such as phosphorus management. At the same time, several challenges and barriers may arise when engaging stakeholders in practice. This study identifies key challenges in engagement and explores how they may be addressed. Using an online survey of 121 researchers and practitioners engaged in sustainability work in the U.S., along with 10 interviewees, data were analyzed using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Key results from this study identify two main sets of challenges and needs, as well as the relationships between them. First, participants identified “top down” challenges to engagement, including limited funding, resources, organizational support, and time, alongside “bottom up” challenges related to recruitment and retention, inclusive representation, trust-building, facilitation skills, and balancing stakeholder expectations. While prior studies have noted important factors and case-specific challenges, this study is the first to systematically document these challenges and needs across a range of fields and highlight interconnections between structural resource limitations and practitioners’ ability to build and sustain meaningful stakeholder relationships. Future research can build on these findings to enhance the field of engagement by advocating for more resources to conduct engagement and developing methods to better assess success of engagement practices.

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Details

Published: Apr 04, 2026
Vol/Issue: 18(7)
Pages: 3549
License: View

Authors

C

Corieander Griebel

Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

N

Nourou Barry

Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

M

Madison D. Horgan

Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

A

Alison Deviney

Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

S

S. Kathleen Barnhill

Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

J

Justin Baker

Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

K

Khara Grieger

Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; North Carolina Plant Science Initiative, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

Funding

U.S. National Science Foundation Award: CBET-2019435

Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center at NC State

Cite This Article

Corieander Griebel, Nourou Barry, Madison D. Horgan, et al. (2026). Key Challenges to Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability Contexts: Insights from Researchers and Practitioners. Sustainability, 18(7), 3549. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18073549

Key Challenges to Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainability Contexts: Insights from Researchers and Practitioners

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