Social-Licence-to-Operate has come to be understood to be an unwritten social contract between a company and a community. Being unwritten implies that a social licence is built on trust.

To have a social licence means that your company is accepted by local communities and you are allowed to go about your business.

The strength of a social licence will vary between stakeholders and over time, ranging from passive acceptance through to broad-based trust.

A social licence makes it is possible for your company to maintain access to land, to secure government approvals, to build your reputation as a responsible business and to manage your social risk.

Social licence is a complement to the regulatory licence issued by government and increasingly carries weight equal to or greater than the regulatory licence.

The SLO-toolkit is designed to help you to improve the strength and resilience of your Social Licence.

Earning and maintaining a Social-Licence-to-Operate (SLO) takes work - it is not something that comes for free - but it doesn't need to be complicated. What I find useful is a simple cause-and-effect model which recognises that the actions of a company directly influence the quality of its social licence and the quality of the social licence leads directly to easily identifiable benefits to the company. The model is the basis of the toolkit.

There are three ways you can use the toolkit and they are all available to you at no cost:

  1. Browse and view the guides and resources for an instant fix or
  2. Save what you need in your personal toolkit for future reference on-line or
  3. Download from your personal toolkit onto your own computer.

I'd like to think that by using the toolkit you will be able to work things out for yourself but if not, and you need a bit more help, use the contact form to tell me where you are stuck and I'll get back to you with some ideas.

Robin 

Social Licence Toolkit

Quick Start

Quick Start

Quick Start

If you are concerned about your social licence but aren't sure how to get started then check out these simple how-to-do and what-to-do ideas.

Land Access

Land Access

Land Access

Competition for land is always an issue for companies and communities. Compensation for damage and the displacement and resettlement of communities is a challenging experience for all concerned often leading to conflict over the right to land and its use.

In-Migration

In-Migration

In-Migration

In-migration is an inevitable consequence of project development and although a case can be made that growth benefits trade, employment, infrastructure, and services, the overwhelming experience from the resources sector is that host communities suffer.

Environment

Environment

Environment

Changes to the natural environment made by companies when they develop projects inevitably bring new risks into local communities. How these translate into impacts depends on the effectiveness of plans and activities aimed at reducing, remediating and offsetting.  

Community Health

Community Health

Community Health

Company facilities and activities will, more often than not, directly, indirectly and cumulatively change community exposures to environment-based health risks such as communicable diseases, equipment accidents, and exposure to hazardous materials or conditions.

Culture and Heritage

Culture and Heritage

Culture and Heritage

The way a company engages with a community to protect their culture and their heritage greatly affects the quality of the relationship, the effectiveness of broader community consultation and the sustainability and legacy of operations.

 

Local Purchasing

Local Purchasing

Local Purchasing

Creating business opportunities for people with an entrepreneurial spirit is one way to benefit local communities. Buying locally can shorten and diversify supply chains and build local support. 

Local Jobs

Local Jobs

Local Jobs

Issues surrounding jobs often become a major source of tension, particularly when local people see outsiders being hired for jobs they think they can do or feel they are entitled to, turning what should be a positive into a negative.

Local Development

Local Development

Local Development

For most projects the benefits that come from employment and business opportunities fall to a small proportion of the population.  For the majority community development is the one broadly distributed benefit they will see.

Company Conduct

Company Conduct

Company Conduct

All company activities and employee and contractor actions have either positive or negative impacts on a local community. This means that actively promoting and encouraging the right attitude and behaviour deserves the same level of attention as every other part of the business. 

Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Engagement sets the tone for relationships with local communities. Meeting and talking with local people is the only way to hear, to learn and to share ideas and concerns and to find solutions. It is the most effective and efficient way to stay on top of issues and to respond quickly.

Addressing Complaints

Addressing Complaints

Addressing Complaints

Taking complaints seriously and establishing a good complaints handling procedure is one of the most effective ways of dealing with local concerns. This is particularly important where company activities and operations are close to communities.