Professional Insights

Project Developers are from Venus, Local Residents are from Mars

The rationale for a green economy is very simple.  Like all markets, the green economy is based on the identification of some opportunity or opportunities.  It is based on meeting a pressing need.   

Companies are looking at innovative ways of helping Ireland meeting its domestic and international treaty commitments. The energy sector is the most obvious area.  Ireland has committed to generating 40% of our energy by 2020 from renewable sources.  This provides an economic opportunity not only for the companies who will operate on and offshore wind farms but for the people who will make the cables, the turbine blades, who will build the access roads, upgrade the ports.  The job opportunities exist, we merely need to seize them.

Irish people have bought into the green agenda. Ten years ago most of us still believed that green energy was a fad.  Leading economists told us that onshore wind was an expensive waste of money.  These same economists will now tell you that developing renewables is a critical hedge against the increasing prices of oil and gas.  This is no longer disputed. People get the rationale for green energy.

It is not just in the area of energy that things are changing. Irish people are changing their behaviour.  Irish people are well ahead of the curve on recycling.  We are ahead of the curve in reduction in use of plastic bags.   Nearly 2 /3rds of us are conscious and are taking steps to reduce energy consumption in the home.

The areas where we are less impressive include reducing water consumption, public transport and car pooling and switching to a new greener energy supplier.  Well if truth be told, it’s not easy to switch to public transport in Ireland. The evidence of Luas and DART suggests that where there is a viable option, people will use it.  Irish people are happy to be green, and when they are encouraged and preferably incentivised in the early days of a technology they will actively participate in the green economy.

But people differ sometimes as to what is green and what is not.  There are few who will argue against a wind farm being green, but what about a thermal treatment plant.  Many will say such plants can play an important role in reducing emissions, in reducing waste to landfill and ultimately in using our resources in a more sustainable manner.  To others such projects are an anathema. 

What about nuclear energy?  Nuclear energy is carbon – free so it must surely meet the green agenda.  There remains that nagging problem of what to do with the waste. 

Clearly people have different ideas as to what is green and what is not.  More importantly from a planning point of view, they have different ideas as to what is acceptable in their communities and what is not. 

People may not have a problem with wind energy but sometimes they may have a problem with the specific location of a wind farm.  They may also object to transmission lines and pylons which are a critical part of getting energy from one place to another.  Indeed even if it were not for the requirements of connecting renewables, the desperate need to overhaul Ireland’s creaking grid infrastructure means that these pylons and lines must be built.  But not everyone wants this.

So while many people get the green agenda and also act in an environmentally aware manner, they still don’t want green infrastructure built in their neighbourhoods.

Project developers want to build critical projects that can bring jobs and economic benefit to both themselves and to the local communities. Frequently though local residents want to keep them away. A bit like the book title, it seems that Project Developers are from Venus and Local Residents are from Mars. 

The normal default position of project planners is to describe objectors as NIMBYs.  They assume that people who oppose our plans are 100% wrong and that they are 100% intransigent.  The siege mentality of them vs us pervades and unfortunately Irish planning is littered with examples of this approach.  Any project which is based on this thinking has a serious problem. 

So if objectors aren’t NIMBYs then what exactly are they.  Well we tend to look at a broader picture and define a project as having many different stakeholders, frequently with many different opinions. Stakeholders are people or organisations who are impacted directly or indirectly by an activity of a third party. 

To be clear, every project has some stakeholders and large infrastructure projects will tend to have large numbers of them.  Working with those stakeholders and effectively managing their involvement in the project is as important as any other element of the planning and design process.

The economics are simple, unless you engage with stakeholders effectively you increase opposition to projects, you increase the likelihood of a planning appeal and you decrease the likelihood of obtaining planning permission or permitting.

The list of interested bodies is increasing all the time.  You can’t build a significant project these days and hope that no one is going to notice – no matter how attractive a thought that might be to some.  

Not only are there more interested stakeholders, there is also an increasing level of information available to those who have an interest in your project.

Networks are growing up allowing groups to interact in fast and effective manners. Facebook, Youtube, Blogs and micro-blogs like Twitter are allowing groups from all around the world to swop stories, information and reports. The same information used to campaign against pylons in Colarado can crop up in campaigns in Ireland.  The idea of an isolated community is gone. Groups get together and they have greater access to information than ever before. 

For the purposes of building an infrastructure project you are effectively engaged in a battle for hearts and minds. You must retain those who support you.  Attempt to convince those who oppose you. Activate and enthuse the apathetic to champion you and inform the uninformed as to why yours is the right argument.  This is the challenge.   

The aim should always be to win that battle and  to win it in a manner which enhances the reputation of the project and which respects the community in which you are building. To do this you must manage stakeholder engagement.

The process of managing stakeholders begins by understanding them.  Once again you cannot assume that people are NIMBYs.  Far too many people do this.

It is a very useful exercise for any project promoter to sit down, look at their list of stakeholders and think of all the reasons why they might oppose the project. Indeed it is useful to look at the individual reasons why certain people are supporting you.   You need to understand as much about stakeholders as you can.  You have to know their source of concern, their sources of information – on what basis they have come to oppose the project.  Most importantly you have to move to understanding where their concerns are justified and how you can overcome them.  

As communications professionals, we see the same broad themes emerging time after time. People are worried about health issues, property values, noise pollution and visual intrusion.  Sometimes these objections are based on rumour, myth or deliberate misinformation. 

Sometimes fear of change is a big issue for people.  Studies consistently show in relation to wind farms that concerns regarding visual impact drop substantially after completion of the projects.  People assume that change will be negative.     

Empowerment is also an issue.  Communities can feel that  they are being exploited by outsiders and they have no say in what is going on in their community. 

Communication is a two-way stream.  Successful projects do not consult by talking at people.  The core of stakeholder management is to effectively communicate, this involves listening. 

By listening we learn where the problems are and we develop the ability to overcome them.  Many of the complaints and objections that people have can be addressed through consultation.    Frequently the most contentious aspect of a development is of little economic value to the promoter and could be changed.

Consultation is key and should begin early. Messaging should be consistent and it should be based on openness and honesty.  Get a reputation as being shifty or untrustworthy at the start of a project and you will not recover.  Most importantly you should never promise more to stakeholders than you can deliver. 

Effective Stakeholder management is based on plan.  The plan can’t be rigid, it must change with circumstances.  But there must be a starting point. You cannot afford to say it will all be alright on the night.

A stakeholder management plan outlines the project, stating the key milestones. These include events such as project launch, planning application date – effectively anytime where there is the potential for external interaction. It identifies the stakeholders and their issues and considers how best to address them. 

Like everything in life timing is important.  The old way of thinking said, if you have to consult do it at the last minute.  This is not real consultation.  It is ticking a box and doing it badly at that.  Every project is different but consideration about stakeholder engagement needs to begin from the very outset.  

In terms of resources, many companies do not have a dedicated communications resource.  If you are serious about developing a project, particularly a significant infrastructure project, then you need to consider how you are going to manage your stakeholder relationships.  You need to invest the resources necessary to ensure that partnerships are forged and opposition is minimised.  That leads to better projects and better planning outcomes.  Failure to invest in this area can mean that all the money spent on design, planning and other legal costs are wasted

For further information contact

Joe Heron

Email: jheron@murrayconsult.ie
Linked In Profile

http://ie.linkedin.com/in/renewableenergyireland

Twitter Name: RenewsIreland