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Arguments about risk and uncertainty are prevalent in marine decision making. Different, often invisible, starting positions of those involved - regarding world views, academic disciplines and positionality - are often responsible. Broadly agreed collective outcomes depend on uncovering these influences. In this article we prioritise navigating multiplicity and plurality rather than constraining them. An iterative cycle of reflection and an openness to make changes are central. However, such a cycle must consider how risk assessment tools open or close possible futures, how evidence is best presented to decision makers, and how mātauranga Māori is reshaping risk perceptions and is the decisive intervention in creating improved decision-making spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent environmental events in land, coastal and ocean domains in Aotearoa have raised serious questions about risks and uncertainties connected with natural resource decision‐making at all levels and in all places. Evidence from consenting processes associated with proposed investments in seabed mining of Chatham Rock Phosphate and sub‐division development at Okura, Auckland City, illustrate the presence and nature of three key but often invisible influences – personal positionalities, discipline assumptions and worldviews – affecting decision processes. Readers are invited to go on a 'risk journey', of discovery, to help develop their capabilities to engage in investment decision‐making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multistakeholder participatory processes are essential decision-making elements in contemporary contested marine spaces. Such processes have long time horizons, diverse interests, and complex objectives. Their complex and evolving nature make it difficult for participatory process proponents and participants to adequately plan their processes and to assess performance quality. We position the findings of this paper in the context of participation as place-based, long-term, emergent, and complex processes in Aotearoa New Zealand. We pose the question "what does success look like?" in marine participatory processes. We provide an indicative answer in the form of a rubric, which outlines key components for navigating participatory processes through ongoing formative evaluation. The relationship between criteria and phases of participatory processes is stressed as "success" challenges, and achievements are unlikely to be stable from phase to phase. The notion of "whose success" is critically reflected upon, as the politics and power of success discourses shape what might be considered success in any given context, marine space, or participatory process. We argue that self-defined, ongoing learning evaluation, where criteria are debated and created by participatory process users, contributes to an empowering notion of success. Success as seen in this way is not an externally imposed set of standards to achieve but cocreated by those involved to best meet their needs. In this way, metaphors of success can be recognized, negotiated, circulated, and institutionalized. The authors' journey to developing the rubric helps unpack the key components of participatory processes and outlines its relationship to evaluation literature. Finally, we touch on the tension involved in creating a rubric for both practice and as a high-level discursive artifact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]