Maintain an On-the-Ground, Local Presence

August 3, 2013

Relationships with local/ad hoc stakeholder groups and individuals must be nurtured, not assumed.

The way to stand up to criticism from “jet-setting celebrity” environmentalists is to maintain an on-the-ground presence, close to the project, in order to remain accessible and available to any and all stakeholders.  

And because it is true that all politics is local, it‘s important to be sensitive to local political preferences, which means that project proponents must be creative and proactive with their media relations and stakeholder outreach to ensure that they are moving opinion despite attempts – no matter how well-intentioned – to stifle it.