Community Engagement
Challenges between project delivery and social performance
A successful project needs to do more than deliver its intended business purpose. It must wholeheartedly embrace the mantra of leaving the community better equipped to thrive and prosper, ensuring a brighter future for the lives it affects.
With a comprehensive toolkit and applied experiences, we find opportunities between the needs of the project and the capacity of the host community. The result is a roadmap for sustainable socioeconomic growth and development for communities, our clients, and their stakeholders. Ultimately, the goal is to leave a positive legacy in the community—one greater than the project itself. In doing so, we want our work to be a catalyst for long-term growth and to support decisions that allow our clients to operate and live in our project communities with integrity.
Through our experiences, we understand the connectivity and critical need for alignment and integration between project delivery and social performance, including engagement with communities and Indigenous Peoples.
Whatever your plans, whatever your scope, we can help.
Our integrated multidisciplinary approach drives smarter, more inclusive development from concept to completion in four community engagement and social performance areas, including:
Social value and risk assessment – A comprehensive review of the opportunities and challenges presented from multiple stakeholder groups in a project location. We map all the relevant stakeholders and provide a risk ranking and capacity assessment to participate in project activity, including workforce development, partnership models, and social procurement. It is critical to understand the motivations of your stakeholders prior to developing any tactical or action-oriented engagement plans. Our social performance experts will benchmark the social value and risk assessments with domestic and international best practices, including regional regulatory requirements, International Finance Corporation (IFC) social performance standards, Equator Principles, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Stakeholder enablement planning and engagement – Informing your project delivery throughout the entire life cycle requires a well thought-out and deliberate plan. We develop stakeholder enablement and engagement plans to direct the most appropriate level of external interaction. An informed and well-designed plan will mitigate stakeholder risk, improve value for the project and community, and build local capacity. Our practitioners are well equipped to carry out direct community consultation, facilitation, and engagement activities.
Local benefits planning – Project participation is one of the best ways to provide opportunities and value to community members living near your project area. It all starts with an in-depth understanding of the local workforce and businesses in the region, matched with the available project opportunities. Where opportunities may not be evident, our team supports local inclusion through benefits planning, workforce capacity building, social procurement, and local business incubation. It is our role to bridge any capacity gaps to ensure community members can maximize socioeconomic participation throughout the project life cycle.
Indigenous and community led projects – Indigenous communities are actively planning, designing, and developing infrastructure projects for their members. We act as the intersection between community engagement and design in which community visions, goals, and aspirations are transformed into reality through culturally appropriate and community-led capital execution projects. From housing developments to community centers, the results are transformational, and all activity is driven by community vision first, design next.