In aiming to distinguish who the stakeholders involved in the change I am looking to make are, I split my stakeholders into 2 categories. The first being ‘Experts’ in the arena of hospitality or in developing natural structures and biophilic design. The second category being ‘Consumers’ this is looking at the people who will be interacting with the nature/ natural structures within the hospitality space.
Experts
When looking at the ‘Experts’ I determined an array of people who would fall under this category, as can be seen in the mind map above. From this I decided the best way to approach these individuals or organisations working in this field would be to first establish their opinions on biophilic design and biomimetics. My next move was then to establish power the stakeholder has in the arena; as well has how a product or consultancy aimed to intrinsically incorporate nature into hospitality settings to evoke social interactions would impact their standing in that arena.
Below you can see a few of the key stakeholder expert organisations I have contacted so far in relation to my project.
Consumers
Regarding the ‘Consumers’ I want to address an array of people who may interact within the hospitality space. This includes people who are avid users of hospitality spaces, as well as those who are not. Likewise, I wish to gather the opinions of environmental activists pushing for sustainable change in design and the incorporation of nature, as well as individuals who aren’t interested in sustainability. This approach is to attempt to gather as balanced a view of the arguments as possible and thus create a change that will be beneficial to as wide a scope of stakeholders as possible.
When engaging with consumers my approach is similar to that of experts in gathering their opinions towards nature in design, the power the individual/ group holds and how my proposed change would impact them. However, I also look to gain from consumers what they favour in spaces regarding social interactions in hospitality settings, how they would look to make changes to this and how they feel their wellbeing could be improved through a heightened relationship with nature in such spaces.
Reflection: Now I have identified who my stakeholders are and how to approach them, stakeholder engagement is going to be a key focus of mine for the next steps on this project.