Public Engagement

A crucial element of any developing CCS demonstration project is understanding public perceptions of CCS, and effectively communicating the risks and benefits.  Each CCS project and community is unique, requiring a tailored, site-specific engagement process.  Useful lessons are emerging from CCS case studies and social science research worldwide that project developers and regulators should be aware of when establishing their own public engagement approaches. Key themes emerging include: 

• the importance of understanding local stakeholders and communities affected by a CCS project, including key concerns, and benefits projects could bring to local communities;
• the importance of delivering balanced, honest and technically correct  information about CCS;
• the value of presenting information through multiple credible sources in an ongoing dialogue with local stakeholders;
• the importance of early stakeholder engagement and involving interested parties at key stages of project decision making;
• the value of establishing dedicated local liaison officers as a trusted link to a project’s stakeholders;
• the positive results achieved when all parties involved work to accomplish a unified CCS proposition, outreach and communication activities reflect a partnership approach; and
• the necessity to include public engagement and communication activities into the core project plan for the life cycle of the project.

This section provides public engagement and risk communication materials to assist in developing a framework for public engagement and communication planning. Items include toolkits, best-practice guides, case studies and, public engagement-related reports from the Institute and project partners, and related blogs and articles.

Recommended Reading

	Collie CCS Hub Community Consultation and Workshop Reports A series of reports detailing the Collie CCS Hub – Community Consultation workshop which occurred in Harvey, Western Australia in February 2011, highlighting the process undertaken, results from the workshop and pertinent questions raised by the community.
	Public Engagement Self Assessment tool The Institute is supporting project proponents to effectively plan and deliver quality stakeholder engagement strategies, by developing a tool which allows projects to self assess their public engagement approach, through identifying the recommended outputs at each phase of the development cycle. The tool underwent a series of...
	Developing a CCS Communications Framework for Japan In partnership with the Institute, JGC Corporation, Quintessa, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and McKinley Consulting established and have been running a knowledge sharing network amongst several of the Institute’s Japanese Members.