Stakeholder Engagement & Social Licence to Operate for Investors and Project Developers
Community engagement, government relations, ESIA oversight and media strategy that secure social licence to operate early — for investors, lenders and project developers, from concept to operations.
Permitting delays, community opposition and political uncertainty are the leading non-technical causes of project failure. They are also the most preventable, if addressed early enough. Solenne Solutions combines hands-on stakeholder engagement experience with strategic communications to build social licence to operate across complex geographies, technologies and political environments.
The developers who engage communities and government stakeholders before they are required to are the ones whose projects advance. For investors and lenders, the quality of that engagement is what ESG due diligence tests: stakeholder mapping, consultation records, grievance mechanisms and the standing of the project with the people who live next to it.
Community support is the most underleveraged tool in project development. We help you secure it early, navigate the permitting landscape and build the relationships that clear the path to financial close.
Community Engagement & Social Licence
Formal engagement often starts during the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), by which time communities are already on the back foot. Investing upfront in stakeholder mapping — local power structures, priorities and concerns — creates operational efficiencies and supports both permitting and capital raising. It can also reshape the project itself: community insights and local partnerships surface co-benefits and commercial adjacencies that strengthen the development concept.
Research & engagement planning
- Stakeholder mapping and analysis
- Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable community engagement protocols
- Benefit-sharing, community benefit agreements and community investment strategy design
- Social performance frameworks with measurable outcomes
- Discourse analysis for brownfield or partially developed projects
- Opportunity identification and shaping through structured community engagement
Engagement delivery & infrastructure
- Public consultation design and facilitation
- Community information campaigns for complex technologies: carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, Power-to-X
- Multilingual engagement
- Community-facing project websites, feedback portals and information hubs
- Grievance mechanism design, implementation and monitoring
- Integrated engagement plans embedded in project timelines
Outcomes
- Work to obtain social licence to operate begun before the permitting process starts
- Community dynamics understood and managed proactively, not reactively
- Meaningful engagement that meets both regulatory minimums and international best practice
- Local partnerships and co-benefits integrated into the project concept
- A track record of transparency that strengthens investor confidence
Policy & Government Relations
Local government actors often overlook the national and international significance of renewable energy and infrastructure projects. National government actors can underestimate local impact and sentiment. We position projects to appeal at both levels by combining regulatory substance with politically astute communications.
Regulatory & policy engagement
- Input to policy consultations on environmental and social standards in line with project objectives
- Engagement and collaboration on international industry standards
- Sourcing right-sized local support on policy lobbying and analysis
- Pre-submission reviews of permitting documentation
Political strategy & positioning
- Political stakeholder mapping and analysis of national development plans
- Public affairs strategy and government engagement plans
- Policy translation: framing technical ESG requirements in language policymakers understand
- Representation at international forums and policy events
- Coalition-building for complex multi-stakeholder projects
Outcomes
- Projects positioned to resonate with both local and national decision-makers
- Political risks identified and managed early in the development timeline
- Regulatory relationships established before they are needed under pressure
- Government stakeholders informed and supportive
ESIA Management & Oversight
A poorly scoped or poorly managed environmental and social impact assessment can delay permitting, add significant cost, fail investor due diligence or miss environmental and social risks that surface too late. Many developers don’t know what good looks like, what questions to ask, or simply lack the time to manage an intense contractor relationship. We don’t conduct ESIAs ourselves; we make sure your contractor delivers what your project, regulators, investors and communities actually need.
Scoping & procurement
- Defining ESIA scope and terms of reference aligned with project technical requirements, regulatory standards and the project financing strategy
- Contractor selection support: evaluating proposals, assessing technical capability, checking track records in relevant geographies and sectors
- Budget and timeline reality-checking: resourcing the ESIA to deliver project value, not just compliance
- Identifying scope gaps before procurement: social baseline, cumulative impacts, biodiversity, climate risk
Oversight & quality assurance
- Managing the ESIA contractor relationship on your behalf
- Review of draft ESIA outputs for technical rigour, regulatory compliance and investor credibility
- Ensuring stakeholder engagement meets regulatory minimums and international best practice standards
- Integrating community intelligence and social risk findings into the ESIA process, not bolting them on at the end
- Coordinating between ESIA contractor, project and technical team, legal advisors and community engagement workstreams
Outcomes
- A fit-for-purpose ESIA that satisfies regulators, investors and communities and enhances project value
- Contractor performance managed to deliver quality, not just compliance
- Scope gaps and risks caught before they turn into permitting delays
- Community and social risk findings integrated into the assessment, not treated as an afterthought
Human Rights & Social Performance
Human rights due diligence is becoming a regulatory requirement across the EU and a standard expectation from DFIs and institutional investors. For developers operating in complex geographies, demonstrating systematic human rights risk management is a condition of financing, a permitting requirement and a reputational imperative. Getting it right also creates tangible project value: well-designed benefit-sharing and governance mechanisms build the local coalitions that sustain projects over decades.
Strategy & frameworks
- Human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples: frameworks, policies and implementation tools
- Supply chain risk screening including labour and working conditions assessments
- Involuntary resettlement and land acquisition frameworks
- Social performance frameworks with measurable KPIs
- Benefit-sharing, community investment or other community participation strategy
- Shared governance mechanisms and organisational design for effective social performance management
Engagement & mitigation
- Community and rights-holder engagement strategies for complex and sensitive contexts
- Grievance mechanism design, implementation and monitoring
- Strategies for obtaining or working towards free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)
- Human rights risk narratives for investor and lender audiences
- Training for project teams on human rights obligations and best practice
Outcomes
- Human rights risks systematically identified, managed and documented
- Benefit-sharing and governance structures that build lasting local support
- FPIC processes that meet international standards and investor expectations
- Project teams equipped to manage human rights obligations in the field
- A human rights record that strengthens rather than jeopardises financing
Technology-Specific Communications
Building a project vision for technologies like CCS, green hydrogen or even onshore wind requires strong support from communities, governments and potential partners. Offering accessible information to non-technical audiences as early as possible reduces anxiety, demonstrates transparency and lets stakeholders engage meaningfully rather than reactively.
Technical substantiation
- Identification of environmental, social and governance implications across technologies
- Technical accuracy review of all public-facing materials
- Risk characterisation aligned with environmental and social standards and investor mandates
- Scientific and environmental substantiation for public communications
Public narrative & audience adaptation
- Narrative development for CCS/CCUS, green hydrogen, Power-to-X, advanced nuclear and long-duration storage
- Tailored messaging for communities, regulators, media and investors
- Addressing public fears and misconceptions with evidence-based communications
- Spokesperson training for technical teams communicating to non-technical audiences
- Community Q&A materials, fact sheets and explainer content
Outcomes
- Complex technologies explained in terms every audience can engage with
- Public-facing materials that are technically accurate and accessible
- Communities informed early enough to participate meaningfully
- Technical teams able to communicate confidently outside their expertise
- A foundation of public understanding that supports permitting and social licence
Media Strategy & Public Relations
Media coverage of energy and infrastructure projects is often shaped by opposition groups, local politics or misinformation, especially for unfamiliar technologies. A proactive media strategy positions the project on its own terms and gives your team the tools to respond if coverage goes sideways.
Strategy & preparedness
- Proactive and reactive media strategy for regional, national and trade coverage
- Fractional media management: identifying and managing key outlets, preparing press releases and other communications assets
- Key messages, position statements and policy positions on known material ESG risks
- Spokesperson preparation and messaging frameworks for sensitive topics
- Crisis communications planning and rapid response protocols
- Media training for technical and leadership teams
Monitoring & response
- Media monitoring and early warning systems
- Stakeholder perception tracking
- Rapid response messaging and coordination
- Post-crisis review and strategy adjustment
Outcomes
- Your project narrative established on your terms before others define it
- Spokespersons prepared and confident across media settings
- Crisis protocols in place before they are needed
- Reputational risks identified and managed in real time
Common questions about stakeholder engagement and social licence
What is social licence to operate?
Social licence to operate is the ongoing acceptance of a project by the communities and stakeholders affected by it. Unlike a permit, it is not granted once by a regulator: it is earned through early engagement, transparency, benefit-sharing and responsiveness, and it can be withdrawn. For energy, mining and infrastructure projects it is the non-technical condition that most often decides whether permitting, financing and construction stay on schedule.
What is stakeholder engagement?
Stakeholder engagement is the structured process of identifying the people and organisations affected by or able to influence a project, understanding their interests and concerns, and involving them in decisions. On a financed project it typically covers stakeholder mapping and analysis, a stakeholder engagement plan, public consultation, disclosure of information and a grievance mechanism, as required by IFC Performance Standard 1 and EBRD Performance Requirement 10.
What is a community benefit agreement?
A community benefit agreement is a negotiated arrangement between a project developer and a host community setting out the benefits the project will deliver locally, such as community funds, local employment and procurement, shared ownership or infrastructure, and the commitments made in return. It formalises benefit-sharing, gives communities a stake in the project’s success and is increasingly expected by lenders and planning authorities for renewable energy and infrastructure projects.
What is an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA)?
An environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) is the study that identifies, predicts and evaluates a project’s likely environmental and social effects and sets out how they will be avoided, minimised or compensated. It is normally a permitting requirement and a condition of project finance, carried out by a specialist contractor against national law and lender standards such as the IFC Performance Standards. Its quality depends heavily on how it is scoped and managed by the developer.
What is free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)?
Free, prior and informed consent is the principle that Indigenous Peoples have the right to give or withhold consent to projects affecting their lands, territories and resources, through their own representative institutions, before decisions are taken and with full information. It is set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and required by IFC Performance Standard 7 and EBRD Performance Requirement 7 in specified circumstances.
What is a grievance mechanism?
A grievance mechanism is a formal, accessible process through which communities, workers and other stakeholders can raise concerns or complaints about a project and have them addressed. Lender standards require one from early in development; a well-designed mechanism is confidential where needed, culturally appropriate, free to use, and tracked so that patterns of concern are visible to management and investors.
What is human rights due diligence?
Human rights due diligence is the process by which a company identifies, prevents, mitigates and accounts for its actual and potential impacts on human rights, as set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. For project developers and their investors it covers labour and working conditions, land acquisition and resettlement, security arrangements, supply chains and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and it is becoming a legal requirement in the EU.
Get in Touch
Whether you're planning a project and want to get the ESG and communications foundations right from the start, or you’re trying to craft a board presentation with all the right data and messages, we'd love to hear from you.