manual for social impact assessment of land-based ... - Forest Trends

Box T5: Use of Venn Diagrams for Stakeholder Analysis
Participants should firstly cut three sizes of circles – at least two sets of circles using different colored
cards. One color is for ‘insider stakeholders’ and another is for ‘outsider stakeholders.’ For each
‘outsider stakeholder’, the participants need to decide how important the involvement of each
stakeholder or stakeholder group is, or should be, in the project, and select the corresponding size of
circle:
• Little importance = smallest circle
• Some or significant importance = middle sized circle
• Very important = largest circle
The name of the ‘insider’ stakeholder or stakeholder groups can then be written on the appropriate
sized circles/cards. This should be repeated for all the ‘insider’ stakeholders using the other colored
card. When all the stakeholders have been represented, the circles should be organized and stuck to a
flipchart, grouping and placing the circles according to the relationships between the stakeholders:
the closer is the relationship between two stakeholders, the closer should be the circles on the
flipchart.
The next stage is to cut three sizes of triangles from different colored cards. For each stakeholder
(group), a small, medium or large triangle should be chosen to represent the degree of influence that
the stakeholder has on the project. The triangle should then be stuck on the edge of the stakeholder
circle. A stakeholder with a small ‘importance circle’ could have a large ‘influence triangle’ and vice
versa. The overlap of the circles represents the extent of the relationship between stakeholders (see
Figure 18). Once the diagram is complete, it should be reviewed by the wider group, which should
continue to discuss the relative importance and influence of each stakeholder or stakeholder group
until a consensus is reached. (See also Figure 18).
Source: Evans, Velarde et al., 2006.
Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects (1.0) – Part II | 71