Industry, NGO and policy actors join first DEEP-REST stakeholder workshop

The first DEEP-REST stakeholder workshop held on May 11th 2022 gathered 53 participants, including experts from industry, environmental NGOs, government officials and policymakers, and researchers from a variety of natural and social science fields. The participants worked in small groups on the identification and prioritization of issues to be considered in conservation and restoration scenarios for deep-sea ecosystems in a context of deep-sea mining. The groups also depicted the landscape of deep-sea mining stakeholders and characterized the relative interest and influence of all the relevant actors. To maximize participation, the workshop operated in a hybrid format where online groups were facilitated with a web-based brainstorming app while on-site participants used the good old-fashioned boards and post-it notes to organize their ideas. This workshop constitutes the first step of the stakeholder consultation process to be carried out within DEEP-REST to integrate stakeholder perspectives and expert knowledge into the research process, as well as to build a shared view of conflict areas, barriers, and opportunities for conservation and restoration.