Posters
Come meet the poster presenters to ask them questions and discuss their work
We would like to invite you to come and see the posters at our upcoming conference. The posters will showcase a diverse range of research topics, and will give delegates an opportunity to engage with the authors and learn more about their work. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or simply curious about the latest developments in your field, we believe that the posters will offer something of interest to everyone. So please join us at the conference and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and engage with your peers in the academic community. We look forward to seeing you there!
PO047: Designing best practice community engagement approaches to secure wind power project development
Eliza Topliff, Consultant, ERM
Abstract
The development of both off- and on-shore wind projects is essential for advancing the global energy transition. As a critical source of low-carbon energy, wind power investments are expected to increase significantly in the coming years with a range of positive impacts both at the global level and at the local level to stakeholder groups, including communities. However, with this ramp-up in investment, it is important to consider that renewable energy projects can be subject to many of the same 'license-to-operate' and value destroying pitfalls traditionally associated with extractives-sector projects, as seen in the case of the Windpeshi project in Colombia, the Lake Turkana project in Kenya and Fosen Vind farm in Norway. These risks include human rights abuses, corruption, resettlement issues and damage to local livelihoods, and can cause lengthy and costly delays to projects as well as endangering the social license to operate of the project developers. Such issues can be particularly profound when companies are unfamiliar with the local operating context or when regulatory and legislative frameworks are still in their infancy. This work draws on the experiences of off- and on-shore wind developers to identify best-practice measures in community consultation, as well as to pinpoint the mistakes most commonly made during this process which can lead to community opposition, grievances and legal challenges. It also draws on the experience of mining and oil and gas companies in managing these issues in a way that can give valuable insight to renewables firms. The paper concludes with high-level recommendations which project developers should seek to incorporate into their stakeholder engagement strategy and activities in order to retain and protect their social license-to-operate.
