Social and Stakeholder Engagement Services
In a world where communities, civil society and government have growing interest in and influence over our client’s activities, RSK provide a range of services to help our clients engage effectively with their stakeholders, maximise the benefits, and minimise the impacts of their projects.
Well-managed infrastructure and energy projects contribute positively to society and can bring about a more sustainable and equitable biophysical and human environment. Conversely, if poorly managed, such projects can result in a range of socio-economic, health and human rights impacts, and lead to higher costs, schedule delays, reputational damage and operating risk.
We provide social expertise and support for all stages of the project life cycle from definition to appraisal, development, operations, closure and decommissioning. We provide social baseline studies, social impact assessments, stakeholder engagement services, social management plans, ecosystem services assessment, land access and resettlement plans, social monitoring and evaluation services and social investment programmes.
With decades of experience, our experts support project delivery, helping to foster a social license to operate, as well as ensuring regulatory requirements are met cost effectively, and enabling project financing.
Interdisciplinary offering
We understand that socio-economic and biophysical impacts are inextricably interconnected and we provide a fully integrated and interdisciplinary approach to our services.
Our social experts collaborate with specialists from our biodiversity, marine, landscape and visual assessment, cultural heritage, noise, air quality, hydrogeology, hydrology, soils and geomorphology teams to develop an understanding of how change in one domain triggers impacts across other domains.
Experienced and diverse specialists
Our skilled, multilingual team has a breadth of experience working in numerous countries and contexts on projects spanning a wide range of sectors and scales. We have worked with private, public and non-profit clients across Africa, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Caspian region. Our programs of work are tailored according to the scale of the project and the unique socio-economic institutional context in which they occur.
We regularly work with clients seeking funding from International Financial Institutions. We consider international legislation, host country regulations, lender requirements, corporate standards, and relevant guidelines in an integrated way, helping to ensure the expectations of stakeholder are addressed.
Inclusive stakeholder engagement
We recognise that good communication with interested and potentially affected parties is fundamental to the success of any project. Each stakeholder engagement activity is carefully designed with a clear audience and purpose in mind, specific to the needs of the client and project, and is supported by detailed, culturally informed implementation plans.
We have proven experience engaging with marginal, vulnerable and under-represented minority groups. We use methods that are effective and accessible for all stakeholders, sensitive to local power dynamics, and designed to avoid domination by local elites, genders or age groups. We routinely use a range of engagement techniques, including household surveys, focus groups, key informant interviews, participatory rural appraisal and public meetings.
