Table 1.

Overview of research projects and respective methods included in this perspective

Project short description, dependency on/selection of participatory methods, and project status when methods needed to be adjusted	Project further details: funding scheme, project run time, website, case studies, involved practice partners (and if they are formal project partners), and transdisciplinary approach
Contracts2.0 aims to co-design, test, and implement novel contracts to better incentivize farmers for the increased provision of environmental public goods in agricultural landscapes. Therefore the project implements a multi-actor approach and brings together stakeholders from practice and policy to innovate agri-environmental and climate schemes in response to real-world needs. Dependency on participatory methods: Very high Selected methods: Net-Map, Q-methodology, public goods games, living labs Status when methods were adjusted: Year 1 (at this time, some stakeholder contacts were already established in person, so a minimum level of trust was already present when methods were adjusted to online formats)	Funding scheme: EU/Horizon 2020 Run time: May/2019 to April 2023 Website:www.project-contracts20.eu Case studies: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom Practice partners involved as formal project partners: Yes. Practice partners include NGOs and associations, regional municipalities, a national park administration, public authorities, public-private partnerships, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Transdisciplinary approach: In Contracts2.0 as an EU “research and innovation action” researchers and practitioners closely collaborate in so-called contract/policy innovation labs (so-called CILs and PILS) to co-design “dream contracts” for agri-environmental and climate measures. The testing and actual implementation of the co-created solutions within the project duration is aimed at. Initiated activities are to be continued by the practice partners after the project ends.
InnoForESt fosters the development and implementation of innovative policy, management, and business solutions to increase the delivery of forest ecosystem services. The project employs a multi-actor approach, closely collaborating with stakeholders in the forestry sector. Dependency on participatory methods: Very high Selected methods: Net-Map, living labs Status when methods were adjusted: Year 3 (At this time, stakeholder contacts were already in place, adjustment of methods was mutually decided on and realized for the continuation and finalization of the last running tasks. These involved also the “road-mapping” for the continuation of initiated activities beyond the project end as well as final dissemination activities, e.g., through stakeholder workshops and a final conference, all held online.)	Funding scheme: EU/Horizon 2020 Run time: November 2017 to December 2020 Website:www.innoforest.eu Case studies: Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden Practice partners involved as formal project partners: Yes. Practice partners include forest and environmental administrations, wood-processing and consultancy firms, hunting associations, forest managers, forest owners, and NGOs. Transdisciplinary approach: In InnoForESt as an EU “innovation action,” researchers and practitioners work together to “up-grade, up-scale and replicate” already existing innovations for the improved governance and valorization of forest ecosystem services. The majority of project resources are dedicated to implementation, while research accompanies this process. An important aspect is to enable co-learning across case studies.
PEATWISE aims at developing sustainable soil and water management technologies. It furthermore investigates options for incentivizing these management technologies in a long-term mitigation framework for greenhouse gas emissions. Dependency on participatory methods: Very high for one work package (but not for project as a whole) Selected methods: Net-Map Status when methods were adjusted: Year 3 (At this point in time, stakeholder contacts were already established. Adjustment of the method was realized by research partners, tailored to stakeholder needs.)	Funding scheme: FACCE/ERA-GAS Run time: November 2017 to April 2021 Website:www.eragas.eu/en/eragas/research-projects/PEATWISE.htm Case studies: Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden Practice partners involved as formal project partners: No. All formal project partners are research institutes/universities. The project works with farmers, water boards, NGOs, companies, and policy makers from the local, regional, and national levels. Transdisciplinary approach: PEATWISE implements a transdisciplinary approach to incentivize management options that reduce peatland emissions. Therefore it analyzes existing incentive-based policy instruments in three case-study countries, in order to develop coherent strategies which bundle governmental and private-sector initiatives.
PlanSmart explores innovative approaches for addressing waterborne challenges through planning and implementing nature-based solutions in river basins and urban regions. Dependency on participatory methods: Very high (funding format on social-ecological research) Selected methods: Geodesign Status when methods were adjusted: Year 4 (At this stage, all stakeholder contacts were already established. Adjustment of the method was realized by research partners, tailored to stakeholder needs.)	Funding scheme: BMBF (SÖF/FONA³ junior research group) Run time: April 2016 to March 2021 Website:www.plansmart.info Case studies: Germany, Costa Rica Practice partners involved as formal project partners: Yes. Practice partners include water and environmental administration and ministries, river basin organizations, municipalities, and NGOs. Transdisciplinary approach: PlanSmart uses a transdisciplinary approach to work closely together with practitioners in the case-study regions of the Lahn River in Germany and the Grande de Tárcoles River in Costa Rica. This collaboration enables knowledge co-creation and co-development of scientifically sound and practice-relevant guidelines to boost nature-based solutions in river management.
SIMTWIST aims at simulating tourism water consumption with stakeholders through a participatory modeling approach. Dependency on participatory methods: Very high for one work package (but not for the project as a whole) Selected methods: Participatory modeling Status when methods were adjusted: Year 1 (At this time, stakeholder contacts were partly established, with face-to-face interactions already realized. Adjustment of the method was done by the researchers on the basis of stakeholder needs.)	Funding scheme: Water JPI Runtime: June 2019 to May to 2022 Website:www.simtwist.eu Case studies: Italy, Spain Practice partners involved as formal project partners: No. All formal project partners are research institutes/universities. The project cooperates with stakeholders from the tourism sector. Transdisciplinary approach: SIMTWIST implements a transdisciplinary approach to support social learning through different scenario-building and modeling techniques. Stakeholder involvement is needed throughout the entire life cycle of the project to achieve meaningful results.