Public Consultation seminarPP 26.03.15

Working with Communities

Patrick Downes

Working With Communities• Understanding the context• Getting the community on board with Energy & Infrastructure projects• Involving them in the process & gaining their trust• Utilising information received• Building relationships with community groups & understanding the dynamics of

community gain• Targeting hard to reach groups• Changing the mind set in the public sector

UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT

July 1963

RENEWABLES

ISSUES TO BARE IN MIND• AUSTERITY - AUSTERITY - AUSTERITY• FRACKING • GEOPOLITICS/MIDDLE EAST• PRICE OF OIL• RUSSIA• CASPIAN SEA• POPULATION GROWTH (RURAL DECLINE)• INDIA/CHINA/AFRICA• SCARCE RESOURCES• THE EURO & UK• ISLAND NATION & ENERGY SECURITY

WIND & WATER

We operate within a completely different communications & technology

paradigm to anything that’s gone before us.

We create as much information in two days now as we did from the dawn of civilization up until

2003 !

The APOLLO programme as it was, could be run from an Iphone !

SOCIAL MEDIA

The War of Words

Getting the Community on board with Energy & Infrastructure projects

TRUST

Involving the community in the process & gaining trust

JOHN 8:32“And the truth shall set you free..”

Utilising information received

How does one harvest this information?

PROVIDE ACCESSIBILITY

• The public have access to all documentation relevant to the decision-making process

• Easy access WebPages

• AIE process

• Published Phone number

• Public information days in the communities

• Publish EIS /Planning application

• RFI documentation

PROVIDE INFORMATION• The public are informed where material relevant to

the decision making process can be obtained.

• WebPage easily navigated

• Regular Newsletters

• Phone number manned during unsocial hours

• Public Information days

• Presentations to stakeholders

• Open Days on proposed sites

PROVIDE INTERACTION

• The participation techniques used allow stakeholder to contribute effectively

• Public information sessions with our staff

• Site visits from near neighbors

• Open conversation with our staff

• Local project offices/clinics

• Local Liaison

• Competence of our people• The public have the ability to challenge experts and

have access to the necessary information to do this effectively

RECOGNISE

• Recognise that the outcome of positive stakeholder interaction and participation influences the decision making process.

ACCEPT COMPROMISE

• The process used allows a consensus to be achieved.

• Pre planning process

• Pre application

• Post application

• Pre construction

• Post Construction

TRUST

• An open & transparent communication process facilitates the development of Trust amongst all involved.

• TIMING

• Ensure that the participation process begins early enough that all participants can have an imput

TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION

• Information must be presented in a non technical format and must be easily understood by lay people

• Websites should be user-friendly

• Facebook needs regular updates

• Twitter

• Phone numbers

• Public Information days

• Publish everything

• Transparency is the order of the day

LISTENLISTENLISTEN

& THEN

LISTEN SOME MORE

SO WHAT WAS THE FEEDBACK ???

POTENTIAL EXAMPLES OF FEEDBACK RECEIVED ON A WIND PROJECT

• Scale and intensity of the proposed developments

• Visual intrusion in the landscape

• Noise - adequate setback distance from houses

• Infrasound - impacts on animals & children

• Turbine impacts on wildlife, especially birds & bats

• Effect on the Equine landscape

• Devaluation of property in the region

• Communities being split by wind farm development

• Queries around employment potential & community benefit

• Traffic during construction

• If we do this will we meet our targets

• Government retaining ownership of Semi-states:

Building the relationships with community groups & understanding the dynamics of community gain

Community Gain• Primary focus should be on local community most immediately impacted a

development• Concentric hierarchy 5km-10km-15km• Community funds

• Capital contribution during project ?• By annual contributions during project ?• By annual contributions of fixed duration • Linkage to project output/profitability?

• Clarity around criteria for fund access• No individual or commercial benefit

• Flagship community projects may receive priority consideration

• Preference that Energy Efficiency or Sustainability projects receive support

• Management of funds by reputable third party or jointly managed

• Administration costs should be carried by fund

• Recognise that funding is finite to project life

• Projects should be community driven• Its not all about wind !!

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE IS KEY

National Economic Social Council

NESCFrom Challenge to Opportunity

Three Components of Social Support

1An overarching energy-transition process that facilitates and guides society-wide efforts to transform energy systems: An intentional, participatory and problem-solving process underpins German and Danish experience. An integral component of the process is a national discussion, informed by international best practice, about how to design an energy strategy in line with society’s goals.

Three Components of Social Support

2• An effective and inclusive process of public participation that helps to

shape and share local value:• A genuine and open participatory process for wind energy that brings

expertise together, facilitates exploration and executes possibilities is critical. Communities that contribute to and shape the local value of energy are more likely to be supportive of future developments

Three Components of Social Support3

Enabling organisations, and, in particular, intermediary actors, which support the kind of problem-solving and entrepreneurialism necessary to initiate renewable-energy developments: Intermediary actors have contributed to the successful development of wind-energy projects in other countries and in Ireland. Our central argument is that there is a need to connect these in an integrated approach to build social support and community engagement.

• A National Energy Transition• Strong local public participation• Enabling of intermediary actors

• RECE - Renewable Energy Community Engagement process

Some critical components

Targeting hard to reach groups

Changing the mind set in the public sector

The Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland

• Recognised building societal acceptance as one of several challenges in further deploying renewable energy.

• It invited discussion of a number of questions specifically about social support such as:

• How can we encourage citizens to be part of our transition to future energy paths and the policy- making process that goes with it?

• Given the scale of changes needed, what are the right mechanisms to engage citizens?

• What formal and informal mechanisms could be used to enhance citizen engagement with regulatory and policy decisions and how should they be structured?

CONCLUSIONS

Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir