Social License
Transformation and reform happens when there is widespread support for it and partnerships are catalysed, strengthened and maintained to achieve it.
In the delivery of infrastructure and major capital projects, Social License means building and sustaining ‘buy-in’ and trust from stakeholders, including the communities and places where projects happen, enabling statutory approvals to proceed and delivery of the right thing to do and in the right way.
What it provides
Social License provides approval to deliver projects beyond those secured on paper by business cases or planning consents. It’s about achieving and sustaining stakeholder and community support for investment making things better for people, planet and prosperity – the right thing to do – aligned with a focus on partnership to enhance the development and delivery of these projects in the right way.
What it involves
It involves building and maintaining trust and partnership working with and across stakeholders through all stages of project development and delivery. It’s much more than consultation, which is always vital but too often initiated too late. It’s about nurturing coalitions from the start, understanding issues, emotions and different perspectives, and enabling these to be heard, involved and addressed to shape better options and ways to deliver transformative change and reform.
How we do it
SIB has championed the principles and practise of Social License, supporting departments, local government and other public, business and third sector consortia deliver infrastructure and other projects and programmes.
- We do this in partnership, and through deployment of experienced specialists in fields such as community engagement, communications, innovation, planning, and social value.
- We advocate and support development and delivery of Social License workstreams, which begin with and extend from project ideas through to the business case, regulatory consents and on-the-ground delivery, completion and legacy of the project.
- We focus on maintaining trust, sustaining buy in and delivering on promises made. This helps to keep projects on track through any changing funding, operational or other circumstances.
- We support our partners with embedding Social License into their processes and everyday way of working, facilitating behavioural and cultural change and empowering staff to achieve Social License.
