Our specialists in community consultation and engagement know that it takes energy, time and commitment to achieve a social licence to operate – and they propose these five principles to help you build a positive, enduring relationship with your project’s community.

1 Understand the values of the community

Just like families, a community has shared histories, values and challenges as well as opportunities. You’ll be able to work much more effectively with a community if you first gather as much of this information as possible. Your research into your project’s community will help you avoid becoming involved in a local issue without understanding the historical influences on local people’s thoughts and actions.

Identifying existing community values as well as areas of tension, ongoing conflicts, and politics within a community will call for in-depth stakeholder and social assessment – but this is key to developing a more nuanced and effective communications and engagement strategy and, ultimately, forming positive relationships.

2 Harness community knowledge

Successful engagement is most often achieved through collaboration with key members of the community who both understand and connect with their local community. Well-managed participatory processes, such as community reference groups, are a great way of facilitating effective communication about the project, peer-to-peer education, and cooperation among multiple stakeholders to identify and resolve issues.

To be most effective, community reference groups should have an independent chair and a broad representation of all those who are interested or will be affected in its membership. The aim is to create a safe and solutions-focused space where individuals can have an open exchange of ideas and opinions and work together towards mutual understanding. When these types of participatory processes are well-managed, they can help keep interested community members and ‘opinion shapers’ involved and can help to head off any potential emerging conflicts.

Another way to harness local know-how and networks and facilitate more honest communication is to consider whether it is possible or appropriate to employ a trusted member of the community to assist with engagement and act as a liaison. The right person would be someone who could be confident and comfortable in the role, who has well-established and well-grounded relationships with key stakeholders, and who is generally well-known, respected and liked in the community. Leveraging existing networks and relationships can help stakeholders feel more able to share their genuine feelings, fears and help stimulate important conversations about a project. Information delivered through a local community member who is held in high esteem by others is more likely to spread quickly through a community and facilitate positive exchanges of information within community networks.

3 Share benefits

Successful proponents of renewable energy projects understand the importance of being a good neighbour and building goodwill with local communities. The renewable energy sector has been a leader in integrating benefits-sharing schemes into project development from the earliest stages of project planning.

Consider developing a benefits-sharing strategy which provides a framework and a series of tailored options for sharing benefits in the short term as well as the long term. This will often help communities feel invested in the success of the project. The benefits-sharing options should address identified community needs and desires and be designed to leave a lasting positive legacy.

A mutually beneficial relationship could include aspects such as local sporting club sponsorships, local employment opportunities, opportunities for local higher education training scholarships and school education programs, local environmental improvement and maintenance benefits, local and regional community social outcomes program investment, and opportunities for sharing benefits appropriately with First Nations. 

4 Build trust

Trust is central to developing and maintaining a social licence and is a strong predictor of community acceptance of a project.

The way that companies avoid, mitigate and manage any real or perceived impacts on community and social infrastructure will affect trust in the company and the acceptance of the project. However, beyond the specific project-related issues are two other powerful factors in building or eroding trust: the way that companies engage with communities, and the way companies treat community members. The quantity of contact can be less critical than the quality. High-quality contact and a perception of fair treatment between company personnel and community members will help to build greater trust and, consequently, greater acceptance of the project.

Two engagement issues that rise above all others are honesty and respect. Proponents and advisors need to be respectful and honest – about potential environmental and social issues and impacts, about statutory approvals processes, about opportunities for communities to have their say and on what, about how you will address community concerns, and about the ongoing use of any site.

5 Set clear timelines and expectations

If your project’s scope is changing significantly as it develops, it’s crucial to re-engage with the community and evaluate the impacts of the change. Changing the goalposts can create mistrust and frustration, which can escalate into hostility and can degrade the trust that you’ve worked so hard to cultivate with your project’s community. Work with the community to create a new timeline, explain changes to design, and clarify expectations.

Most communities of renewable energy projects are interested, engaged, informed and invested. Many people will understand that renewable energy projects benefit the ‘greater good’, and they will be willing to work with you to become part of their community. By putting these five principles into practice, you’ll have the foundations in place for achieving genuine acceptance and an enduring social licence.

Contact our Communications and Engagement team to find out more and get help with achieving a social licence for your projects.