Impact of explicit consent to data protection rules on the stakeholder landscape in transdisciplinary Nexus research projects

Transdisciplinary Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus projects intend to engage stakeholders from a broad base. European Union funded projects must adhere to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that govern the way in which personal data of stakeholders is gathered, stored, and used. In the H2020 project NEXOGENESIS, WEFE nexus interlinkages are assessed in five river basins, four in Europe and one in Southern Africa. This work is carried out in a participatory manner and stakeholder engagement plays a central role. Stakeholders were asked to actively consent to the collection, storage, and use of their information through a privacy policy consent form. Active engagement with stakeholders occurred in the first half of the project (2021–2023) through stakeholder workshops via different modalities in each of the five case studies, and targeted stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions. We show that the stakeholders that actively consent to the use of their information are not evenly distributed across all sectors but are generally from the water sector and have high interest and rather low power. Our study provides evidence that the need to sign a consent form reveals biases in the stakeholder landscape. Results also show that consent rates increased with active engagement situations and were relatively high through face-to-face interactions but were the highest in absolute terms through hybrid events. Using consent forms not only helps increase the transparency of how personal data of stakeholders is used, but also helps show the biases that are present in the active stakeholder base. • Transdisciplinary Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus Projects engage stakeholders broadly, needing GDPR compliance. • This is the first article quantifying the change in the stakeholder landscape before and after GDPR consent. • Active consent increases transparency and highlights biases in the stakeholder base, crucial for fair engagement. • Making consent transparent in stakeholder engagement processes helps foster 'deep' participation. • The process supports reassessing the stakeholder base and exploring other engagement strategies for high-power actors.