TOPIC 2.9: Social license to operate
Managing outwards in a networked government implies distributed power between and across all elements of the system. At times government may regulate activities, set standards and issue licences: however, government agencies are also subject to approval processes by the electorate, communities and local groups.
A social licence is not a piece of paper like a government licence. It is a form of social acceptance or approval that companies, agencies and projects earn through consistent and trustworthy behaviour and interactions with their stakeholders. It’s a socially constructed perception that your agency or project has a legitimate place in the community. It is built on effective stakeholder management, the processes your agency uses to involve people in decisions that affect them.
Like reputation a social licence is hard to earn and easy to lose. But it is not the same as reputation. Reputation is the outcome of how much people like your agency based on their own experiences and what they hear or read about you. Your social licence is the judgement by communities about whether your agency is a proper and fitting entity that deserves to be part of the community. It’s a judgement about the legitimacy of your operations. The social licence is the level of acceptance or approval continually granted to an organisation’s operations or project by the local community and other stakeholders (Black, 2013).
10 min
The coal seam gas industry has engaged with communities wherever they have attempted to operate. Communities across Queensland and New South Wales have formed an alliance called ‘shut the gate’. Farmers, landowners and local people have been shutting their gates to deny coal seam gas operators access to their land. The apparent risk of hydraulic fracking (the system used to mine the gas) to the natural water supply has prompted local people to refuse a social licence to operate.
Can you think of other examples where social licence to operate has been denied or withdrawn?
We have been exploring government interaction with citizens, customers and community and the challenge of ‘creating public value’ through new relationships for shared benefit. Apart from political and economic imperatives for collaboration, government is increasingly engaging with the citizenry in an effort to build social capital. We turn our attention to the role of social capital in meeting people’s needs and how government might encourage social interactions and networks for the common good.
Deeper Learning
25 mins