Stakeholder Engagement

by Dr. Hagen G. Jung and Peter M. Booth

Irrespective of how you exactly define a ‚stakeholder‘ the success of a project will invariably depend on the effectiveness of the stakeholder engagement program.

In order to gain approval for licensing and subsequently efficient operation it is vital that projects not only comply with the official regulations, but that they can also acquire the support of potentially affected stakeholders, who may influence or have a critical view on the project. Such stakeholders might include associations, the public, NGO’s and local councils. Even if certain stakeholders are not part of the decision making process, regulators may consider their concerns and aspirations.

Thus, it is always advisable for projects to develop specific involvement measures, which are aware of stakeholder expectations. Moreover, projects can follow a graded approach starting with stakeholder communication/consultation – preferably led by an independant person – and even more formal stakeholder participation.

The first step might be the establishment of a transparent information flow and listening to possible concerns and aspirations, e.g by common workshops or even a community-based liaison manager. Furthermore, stakeholders may be invited to contribute to specific decision-making, if the process could benefit from such an approach. An engagement program should ideally reflect the complexity of a site challenge (e.g. waste management, radiation safety etc.) and the nature of known stakeholder concerns and aspirations.

The adopted stakeholder involvement strategy should also reflect the country and its culture that the project is located in. Different interests e.g. in environmental or economic-social dimensions can be balanced in order to gain an overall mutual benefit and sustainable outcome: stakeholders have the potential to feel their concerns are taken into account and projects can have outcomes beneficial to all interested parties.

To achieve sustainable and effective stakeholder engagement it should be viewed as a continual process – over the whole life-cycle of a project.