Author: Dalia Antunes, CEO of Factor Social
We all know how easy it is to suspect about projects or ideas we don’t know and to distrust people and organizations, but also that we need to invest a lot of time, energy and honesty to build trust relationships, and that this process can still be uncertain.
Many times, by being afraid of people reactions, the plans for new sensitive projects are discussed in private meetings and away from communities until the moment these become disclosed either through public consultancy or the start of construction works. And at this stage, we can hardly expect people to conform and agree…
On one hand it is understandable organizations want to avoid putting effort, money, and expose themselves on what they might consider to be a process without a clear result, many times attributed to chance instead of considering the real factors that undermine these processes. On another hand, one thing experts know is that people are afraid of everything they don’t know. This is an instinctive and survival reaction that prepares us either to fight or flight in face of new events which might present a threat to us.
Especially when considering sensitive projects which may raise public awareness and concern, discussing them away from people will raise concerns that decision makers are hiding something. Distrust will rise, and projects will hardly be supported by local communities. Communities may even join to fight against the project and its implementation making this process long, requiring too much effort and resources to be spent without certain results.
Hence, the more sensitive the project, the more reasons to start sooner the communities and stakeholders engagement. This will allow developing a constructive dialogue and honest relationship with local people free from bias raised by news or gossip about the project. It will allow truly understanding people deepest concerns about the project and constructively discuss with them acceptable ways to address those concerns – how can we adapt the project to consider their fears, what kind of studies shall be performed to minimize their concerns?
This may sound silly or naive, but from our experience with many projects along time, we can assure you people refer real concerns that constructively contribute to rethink projects and develop more sustainable solutions and robust procedures. Some examples are: overexploitation of water resources, health impact of emissions, response in case of traffic accidents with waste transport…
The most relevant factors to increase a successful engagement process, with higher chances of project approval are:
- starting as soon as possible (first information is the one that shapes people minds);
- having strong social baseline assessment, providing knowledge on people concerns and positioning about the project (based on real data, beyond stakeholder considerations);
- the transparency and equity of the process (hear everyone, put equal effort on addressing all concerns);
- the amount of control provided to local stakeholders (the more people contribute to the decision-making about the project, the bigger the project acceptance).
A critical piece to success is an experienced expert supporting you on developing data gathering and a project communication and communities engagement process. Be aware project communication is different from branding communication. You are not looking for a marketing expert, but someone with strong experience in communities engagement and crisis management.