Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Who are the representatives for those who are likely to be affected?
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Who is responsible for what is intended?
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Who is likely to mobilize for or against what is intended?
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Who can make what is intended more effective through their participation, or less
effective by their non-participation or outright opposition?
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Who can contribute i nancial and technical resources?
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Whose behaviour has to change for the effort to succeed?
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Who gets things done in affected communities?
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Whom do others listen to?
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Who manages the leading businesses in the project area?
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Are there any environmental or social groups with interests in the project areas?
Answers to these questions will identify stakeholder representatives. Communicating
with these representatives is an effective way to disseminate information to a large group
of people and to channel community feedback.
Another technique for stakeholder identii cation, at least initially, is to draw a sketch
map of the mining project and potential impact areas. Through subsequent consultation
with local people, project-affected groups can be identii ed (
Figure 3.3
)
.
Identii cation of stakeholders is incomplete without understanding the stakeholders' con-
cerns. How will the mine proposal affect stakeholders and how will the mine proposal be
affected by these stakeholder effects? Stakeholder mapping will provide answers to both
questions. A stakeholder matrix helps to summarize key information in a concise manner
Dei ning stakeholders' concerns is not always a straight-forward exercise. Again the
best way is by asking direct questions. Understanding all issues early on and factoring
them into planning is critical in avoiding problems, thereby saving time and money. A
stakeholder map, however, will evolve over time and a structured database is an efi cient
way to order and maintain information on stakeholders. There is no standard format for
such database but it should include information on stakeholder group, stakeholder repre-
sentatives, main concerns and interests, past contacts, and any other relevant information.
3.5 ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS
The goal of engaging stakeholders is to forge relationships, partnerships and trust, allow-
ing directly affected individuals and groups to participate in the mining project. The more
solid these relationships, the fewer community issues will develop. Since participation is
strongly inl uenced by culture, educational level, and the political system in the jurisdic-
tion concerned, engagement of stakeholders in developing countries differs from engaging
stakeholders in the western world. Indeed, Western-style public participation in decision-
making can be alien to developing country communities.
Arnstein (1969) represents the levels of participation as eight rungs of a ladder, then
groups the rungs into three categories
(
Figure 3.4
)
, ranging from going through the empty
ritual of non-participation to having the real power needed to affect the outcome of deci-
sions. Arnstein describes his i rst category 'non-participation' as tactics whose real objective is
'to enable power holders to educate, or cure the participants'. In the second category, 'degrees
of tokenism', Arnstein argues that when these are 'proffered by power holders as the total
extent of participation, citizens may indeed hear and be heard. But they lack the power to
ensure that they are heeded'. Arnstein groups both informing, or respectively disclosure, and
consultation into the category of tokenism. While informing is important, it is a one-way
Western-style public
participation in decision-making
can be alien to developing
country communities.
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