CR TOOLKIT WORKSHOP

SOCIAL IMPACT & OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT (SIOA)

Ref- ICMM CD Toolkit # 12

Trainer: Jane WiyawaDate Friday 13th September 2013

Venue: CR Conference RoomTabubil

2

1 PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Objective of the presentation

2. Exercise 1

3. Describe what Social impact and Opportunities Assessment is (SIOA)

4. Purpose of Social impact and opportunities Assessment

5. When to use this tool

6. How to use this tool

7. Exercises 2 and 3

8. Conclusion

3

2 OBJECTIVE OF THIS PRESENTATION

At the end of the presentation you will be able to:

•Understand and explain the purposes of SIOA.

•When and how to use the tool

4

3 EXERCISE

• Exercise 1

5

4 DESCRIPTION OF SOCIAL IMPACT AND OPPORTUNITES ASSESSMENT

• The process of social impact assessment (SIA) involves: – identification negative impacts and mitigate, and

– consider positive aspects of the presence of a project.

• Social Impact and Opportunities Assessment (SIOA) involves as methods of enhancing the opportunities including positive impacts as well as offsetting the negative ones.

• The opportunities can form the basis for a Sustainable Community Development Programs with full engagement of the stakeholders.

6

5 PURPOSE OF SOCIAL IMPACT & OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT

The purposes of SIOA are to;

1. assess the potential social and economic impacts

2. identify opportunities generated by the project

3. Having identified the impacts, propose measures to mitigate or offset potentials negative impacts and maximise positive impacts

4. A community development focused SIA will include an opportunity assessment to enhance positive development impacts of the project as well as identifying impacts of the projects that need to be mitigated

5. Benefit from having input from other stakeholders, as they often identify potential impacts and opportunities that may not be evident to the researchers and company staff. i.e. inclusion of likely impacts of the project on women and vulnerable/marginalised groups is essential

6. Identify the barriers and constraints to participate along gender lines, as opportunities for local economic development can be very different from the perspectives of men and women.

7

5. WHEN TO USE THE TOOL

• SIOA should be conducted as soon as possible after the social baseline study.

• Both the baseline study & SIOA form part of same large exercise, although in some cases a baseline study may be conducted separately.

• It is possible to conduct SIOA without baseline study but this is unwise.

• Without the broad knowledge baseline provides an SIOA may draw incorrect conclusions. Thus managing & monitoring is difficult as there will be no initial data to compare change overtime.

8

5 WHEN TO USE THE TOOL

• Assessment should made of the impacts likely at each stage of the project, from

– feasibility through relinquishment,

– including transition phases like construction, when a large temporary workforce is present

• It is important that social impacts of a project at closure and beyond are taken into account when assessing the feasibility of a proposed project.

• As closure nears, a specific SIOA on the impacts of closure should be conducted and closure mitigation and opportunities programs should be developed accordingly.

9

6 HOW TO USE THIS TOOL

• Assessments are normally undertaken by experienced social scientists:

– with a good understanding of mining & metal projects and their potential effects as well as being

– knowledgeable in community dynamics and the local population.

• The participation of stakeholders through interview and surveys will provide information about local values and experiences.

• Note: These interview and surveys are not just for information & data collection but to capture people’s hopes, fears and expectations , in order to give life to the assessment of impacts and identifying opportunities

10

7 HOW TO USE THIS TOOL...

• The criteria applied for determining an impact should include;

1. The likelihood of an impact occurring

2. How widespread the impact will be(how many people will it affect) and

3. Exercise 2

4. After management measures have been developed, whether it can be mitigated reasonably or not

11

8 HOW TO USE THIS TOOL........

4. Management measures are then proposed for the impacts identified, either to- enhance the positive impacts(opportunities) or

- to mitigate negative impacts

5. Exercise 3

6. Reassess the impacts and opportunities, taking the proposed management measures into account

12

9 HOW TO USE THIS TOOL.....

7.Work with community partners on participatory development plans that address community priority programs and mitigation programs

8. Review management measures and programs regularly and adjust as required (Tools 19 – 20)

9. If significant regional and cumulative impacts are likely to occur as a result of the project, then a regional approach in partnership with the government and other civil society should be initiated as early as possible

13

10 CONCLUSION

To sum up

• SIOA is a process of identifying positive as well as negative impacts and looking for methods of enhancing the opportunities that can flow from the positive impacts as well as offsetting the negative.

• The purposeful identification and enhancement of opportunities that can add value to a project’s presence within a community from the start will make the challenges of engagement, local participation and a more collaborative and sustainable community development effort throughout the cycle of the project easier.

• Thus the impact management programs should then be designed to be sustainable, to survive the closure of the mining or development project, not simply be a positive measure during the life of the mine, leaving people no better off when the mine closes

14