Mechanisms for stakeholder analysis and engagement in mobility management projects : A case study of Sustainable Travel in Umeå Region, Sweden

Abstract: The current study investigates the mechanisms employed for analyzing and engaging stakeholders through the planning and implementation phases of the mobility management project Sustainable Travel in Umeå Region (Sweden). In alignment with researchers' epistemological and ontological assumptions, an abductive approach and the case study strategy were selected. The qualitative data collected through conducting interviews with the five project team members and through examining project's documentation were analyzed using the pattern matching technique and leading to the findings presented in detail in Chapter 4 and discussed in Chapter 5. The core finding of the study is a model of the use of mechanisms through the planning and implementation phases of a MM project. The planning phase of the project coincides with the stakeholders' analysis process, thus identifying, classifying, characterizing and a very complex process of designing the engagement strategy for citizens, which includes also deciding and starting implementing the strategy for organizations. The correspondent analysis and engagement mechanisms, developed by the project stakeholders‟ scholars for each of these stages, are mostly unwittingly used by the project team. Once the engagement strategy for citizens is decided, the implementation phase is initiated. The implementation phase is characterized by a blend between MM mechanisms and classic stakeholders' engagement mechanisms, which are constantly reassessed through project's lifecycle. In addition, the main challenges emerged in the process of stakeholders' engagement in this project are discussed, concluding that the lack of alignment between some of the regulations coming from the national and supranational level and the project's aim, combined with communication issues and the unwillingness of the targeted organization to interfere in the personal lives of their employees, are the elements that most endanger the success of the stakeholders' engagement process and implicitly of the MM project.