meant to be relatively close to the shore and since the concept included offshore
solar, wind farm and OTEC, valuable lessons on social acceptance can be drawn
from the rich literature on acceptance of offshore renewables. In the TROPOS study,
the concepts of Leisure Island concept off Gran Canaria and the Green & Blue
concept off Liuqiu Island, Taiwan, were used as examples (Chen et al. 2014).
2.2.2 Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholders were identified as those who will be likely affected by the development
of the multifunctional platform and whose interests and concerns should be taken
into account in the planning of large-scale offshore platforms. The stakeholder
groups comprised members of the following groups: local and regional governments, fishing and shipping communities, local businesspeople, local tourism and
leisure industries, environmental organisations and coastal communities.
2.2.3 Activities Performed and Their Outcome
The TROPOS project made use of a combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches when involving the relevant stakeholders. Firstly, the potential socioeconomic impacts were identified from the literature. Six main socio-economic
impact categories listed in Vanclay (2002) were used in the TROPOS case studies
as they are commonly used both in literature and practice. These include health
and social well-being impacts, quality of living environment impacts, economic and
material well-being impacts, cultural impacts, family and community impacts and
institutional legal political equality impacts. Then the impacts were adjusted for each
case study during the survey in the local area to fit the local situation better.
Secondly, the strategies for data collection were developed. As the methodology
and the choice of methods for data collection should always be guided by the specific
situation, the acquisition of empirical data was uniquely created for each case. That
is, for Leisure Island concept off Gran Canaria, TROPOS adopted a mixed method
approach which comprises a face-to-face survey and a semi-structured questionnaire
survey with local people and tourists as well as in-depth interviews with stakeholders
who are potentially affected by offshore developments. As far as the Green & Blue
concept off Liuqiu Island, Taiwan, is concerned, TROPOS used a face-to-face
survey for local people and members of fishing industry. These changes were
particularly made to shift the focus away from tourism to put more emphasis on
local residents and members of the fishing industry as more significant stakeholders.
Thirdly, a pilot survey in each case site was carried out in a smaller scale to check
whether the initial questionnaire design needed to be changed to the local condition.
Finally, a final survey was carried out for each case, and these results were
analysed. In the survey and semi-structured interviews, the following aspects of
28
M. Stuiver et al.
solar, wind farm and OTEC, valuable lessons on social acceptance can be drawn
from the rich literature on acceptance of offshore renewables. In the TROPOS study,
the concepts of Leisure Island concept off Gran Canaria and the Green & Blue
concept off Liuqiu Island, Taiwan, were used as examples (Chen et al. 2014).
2.2.2 Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholders were identified as those who will be likely affected by the development
of the multifunctional platform and whose interests and concerns should be taken
into account in the planning of large-scale offshore platforms. The stakeholder
groups comprised members of the following groups: local and regional governments, fishing and shipping communities, local businesspeople, local tourism and
leisure industries, environmental organisations and coastal communities.
2.2.3 Activities Performed and Their Outcome
The TROPOS project made use of a combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches when involving the relevant stakeholders. Firstly, the potential socioeconomic impacts were identified from the literature. Six main socio-economic
impact categories listed in Vanclay (2002) were used in the TROPOS case studies
as they are commonly used both in literature and practice. These include health
and social well-being impacts, quality of living environment impacts, economic and
material well-being impacts, cultural impacts, family and community impacts and
institutional legal political equality impacts. Then the impacts were adjusted for each
case study during the survey in the local area to fit the local situation better.
Secondly, the strategies for data collection were developed. As the methodology
and the choice of methods for data collection should always be guided by the specific
situation, the acquisition of empirical data was uniquely created for each case. That
is, for Leisure Island concept off Gran Canaria, TROPOS adopted a mixed method
approach which comprises a face-to-face survey and a semi-structured questionnaire
survey with local people and tourists as well as in-depth interviews with stakeholders
who are potentially affected by offshore developments. As far as the Green & Blue
concept off Liuqiu Island, Taiwan, is concerned, TROPOS used a face-to-face
survey for local people and members of fishing industry. These changes were
particularly made to shift the focus away from tourism to put more emphasis on
local residents and members of the fishing industry as more significant stakeholders.
Thirdly, a pilot survey in each case site was carried out in a smaller scale to check
whether the initial questionnaire design needed to be changed to the local condition.
Finally, a final survey was carried out for each case, and these results were
analysed. In the survey and semi-structured interviews, the following aspects of
28
M. Stuiver et al.