A co-design framework for natural resource policy making: Insights from tree health and fisheries in the United Kingdom

Environmental and land use policy literature asserts the need for more holistic, participatory and co-designed forms of governance for the sustainable management of natural resources. Co-design is also increasingly recognised by government as a useful approach but is often applied with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this paper is to assess recent examples of policy co-design across three UK case studies focused on tree/woodland management and fisheries. The first set out to co-design criteria for ‘low impact’ fishing with fisheries stakeholders to inform new fisheries policy and management strategies. The second co-designed new policy options with tree/woodland stakeholders to replace existing tree health grants, as part of the UK government’s broader Environment Land Management scheme. The third aimed to scope, with stakeholders, the potential for a new social survey of fishers. Despite the different contexts, all projects sought to apply principles of co-design by engaging with stakeholders during the early stages of policy development. A comparative assessment between the three case studies allows us to identify challenges for co-design and to provide recommendations for successfully applying co-design principles through stakeholder-researcher-policy maker partnerships. Challenges include building trust between stakeholders and policymakers, overcoming traditional modes of evidence-based policy making, accessing hard-to-reach groups, getting discussions to move beyond the general to the specific, and recognising that co-design takes time and is resource-intensive. A new co-design framework is presented, setting out five stages for incorporating the principles of co-design in natural resource policy making: scoping, co-design, testing, implementing and evaluation.