Using PAR and Systems Leadership to determine the merit of adopting a laboratory method

What is it about?

Faecal contamination of surface waters used for recreation and aquaculture is monitored and failing results can impact access and economic outcomes. Stakeholders are interested in methods that not only detect contamination but can also indicate the source of contamination. We used systems leadership and participatory action research to engage stakeholders in a trial of a specific method and to assess the suitability of the method to meet the needs of stakeholders.

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Photo by Lucut Razvan on Unsplash

Photo by Lucut Razvan on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Method selection would normally be a matter internal to the laboratory, although driven by customer's needs. In this case, the proposed method requires significant financial and organisational investment from the customer and does not deliver a definitive result but a statistical association. Systems leadership was used to engage diverse, independent stakeholder organisations and build a common picture of what is required. Participatory action research and qualitative methods were used to explore the incentives and barriers perceived by stakeholders and identify strategies to address these. Together these methods revealed a range of factors that would not have been considered in an internal decision-making process and involved stakeholder in a comprehensive discussion of whether the proposed solution would actually meet their need.

Perspectives