A Framework for Stakeholder Analysis of Forest and Wood-Based Industry Clusters: Case Study at the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Abstract

"Concepts and methods for stakeholder analysis in forestry need further development and refinement in the context of the cluster concept and there is a lack of suitable information concerning the communication and cooperation patterns between stakeholders of the different industry branches and along the chain of production and value-adding. Within this research project, a framework for stakeholders analysis of forest and wood-based industry clusters was developed and tested as a case study at the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in Germany. The study is based on methods of cluster and stakeholder analysis as well as the analysis and assessment of stakeholder and corporate networks. The case study was carried out based on a questionnaire survey among 632 stakeholder organizations (response rate 35.9%). The framework consists of three moduls: stakeholder identification, stakeholder analysis and assessment, and stakeholder networking and cluster management. The NRW forest sector is characterized by more than 630 stakeholder organizations, covering a wide range of industry branches and different spatial scales. The institutional characteristics vary highly. Stakeholder communication and cooperation mostly takes place between directly linked industry branches along the chain of production and value-adding. Recommendations for improved communication and cooperation include the establishment or further development of cooperation platforms or networks. The presented framework supports stakeholder analysis under the cluster perspective. If applied in a consistent and transparent way, the framework of stakeholder analysis can contribute to more holistic, standardized, replicable and comparable descriptions of forest and wood-based industry clusters in Europe and abroad."