Corporate Community Relations & Social Impact Assessments
Channel Research undertakes social impact assessments and evaluates community relations programmes for corporate clients. The advice we provide, whether as part of an impact assessment, evaluation or ongoing consultancy on a programme, enables a company to mitigate the risk associated with operating in areas of political or social instability and maintain a positive relationship with the local community.
Our services help companies to meet the increasing demands for accountability by external stakeholders, such as lenders who are signatories to the Equator Principles, and voluntary and mandatory corporate reporting requirements including those of Global Reporting Initiative or annual report and accounts under the EU Accounts Modernisation Directive.
Increasingly companies in the extractive and engineering sectors find themselves operating in conflict-prone environments where the risk of poor external relations is very real. This can lead to a project being unsustainable through the loss of the ‘social license to operate’ or even the withdrawal of the government license. There is also the potential risk to a company’s reputation and share price as the recent cases of Shell in Russia and Asia Energy in Bangladesh have demonstrated.
To enable companies to reduce this risk, Channel Research has adapted the mapping and evaluation tools that we developed for humanitarian aid, to ensure conflict sensitivity is part of a project’s initial social impact assessment and its community relations programme. Our experience in evaluating and providing consultancy services for clients, such as the World Bank, also means that we can advise clients how to enable their community programmes to make a positive contribution to the sustainable development of an area.
For further information, please contact us on +32 2 633 65 29
Recent projects:
- Xstrata: consultancy to develop and support the community relations team for the Koniambo Nickel Project - New Caledonia (2007)
- Burundi Enterprise Network (a private business association) and International Alert: research on the possibilities for job creation in Burundi, banking and interest rates, and the issue of energy supply- Burundi (2006- 2007)
- Talisman Energy: evaluation of the community development and governance programme of its oil and gas project to provide expert testimony for a class action suit relating to accusations of aiding and abetting war - Sudan (2005-2006)
- BP: evaluation of the community investment programmes along the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline - Georgia (2004-2006)
- IPIECA (International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association): Guidance on Operating in Conflict Zones (2006)
- Falconbridge: public consultations and Social Impact Assessment in line with the Equator Principles of Koniambo Nickel Project - New Caledonia (2005)
- Skye Resources: conflict impact assessment for the El Estor nickel mine - Guatemala (2006)
- Control Risks Group : advice on planning community relations for an oil company investing in Sudan (2003)
- SGS Integrity Management Training: implementation of the global class-room training program of the SGS Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct (2005)