Assessing stakeholder readiness levels for innovation adoption in river management: flexible groynes in the Netherlands

Innovations in river management often stall at the transition from pilot to practice due to stakeholder hesitation, financial uncertainty, and regulatory inertia. This paper examines the usefulness of the Stakeholder Readiness Level (SRL) framework in river management as a decision-support and learning tool for guiding the transition from pilot implementation to broader application, using the case of flexible groynes in the Netherlands. The SRL tool complements technical evaluations by systematically assessing stakeholder perceptions across five adoption-relevant dimensions: Value, Commitment & Support, Costs, Feasibility, and Risks. Data were collected between 2020 and 2024 through structured interviews and group polling with government, research, and market actors. Results indicate that, despite acknowledging technical feasibility, progress toward adoption was constrained by unresolved cost structures and business-model arrangements, internal organisational resistance, and perceived regulatory and procedural misfit. Over time, most stakeholders converged toward higher readiness, though unevenly: contractors improved once financing options clarified, while the research institute retained concerns about internal issues, including unclear investment readiness, limited organisational alignment, and a lack of a lead partner for implementation. The SRL assessment tool proved useful as (1) a diagnostic instrument to surface adoption bottlenecks and specify follow-up actions, and (2) a reflexive platform for cross-organisational dialogue and learning. Embedding SRL assessments in collaborative environments such as Learning Spaces can help facilitate the transition of sustainable river innovations from experimentation to systemic practice.