That’s why understanding humans, and carrying out carefully designed stakeholder engagement (AKA talking with people) is so crucial. All projects involve people … stakeholders of varying types and influence that can support or hinder. What drives them? Why do they say what they say, and do what they do?
The BSI Standard relating to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), BS 8683:2021, requires stakeholder engagement and advises that the earlier that stakeholders are involved, the more successful that projects are likely to be, and the supporting guidance produced by CIEEM, ISEP and CIRIA expands on that. This is also part of the approach for any nature finance delivery – see BSI Flex 705 which examines community engagement and equity of benefit sharing. But engagement shouldn’t be done because it’s required, but because the success of projects absolutely relies on it.
Any nature restoration or enhancement requires change in land use and management. For the change to be sustainable in the long term, all interested parties need to be supportive of the transformation. The land will have multiple existing stakeholders with a variety of relationships with it, from individual, corporate, public and organisational landowners and managers, through to those who access and use the land, to local communities, partnerships, and many other interested individuals and groups who either affect or will be affected by the changes.
It is not enough to simply explain to people your view on the benefits of your project to them, to society or to wildlife and expect them to concur – humans aren’t like that. Engagement needs to be led by understanding stakeholders’ current relationships with the land in question – their related knowledge, attitudes and practices.
Many people even feel that nature can be a nuisance, or get in the way: slippery leaves on pavements and roads in the autumn, ‘unkempt’ roadsides that block views at junctions, ‘mess’ that attracts vermin, nettles that sting and flowers that attract stinging insects. And land being taken out of food production and thus reducing our food security or ‘offshoring’ food production to other countries with the consequent loss of nature there instead where it might not be managed so well. Nature recovery and enhancement will elicit different beliefs, views and emotions from different people. Therefore, when doing any kind of BNG or other nature enhancement work, it’s really important to find out what people who are affected by the project think and believe in order to formulate a solution which can gather the support and understanding required for the long-term commitment that it demands. Understanding and engaging with people ensures that projects are much more likely to run smoothly.
Nature will respond when given the chance – but it’s people that will create the conditions for nature to thrive. So the more we understand people, the better we can create the space and conditions for a nature-rich, equitable and sustainable future across the landscape with all of the benefits that can bring.
How Wilding can help
We will map the individuals, groups and organisations that affect or are affected by your project, and then assess the appropriate level and mode of engagement with them, all the way from those that need to be kept informed through to some that may need full involvement including co-development and delivery, and every level in between.
We will use appropriate methods to engage with those groups to fully understand their relationship to the land and the project, to test assumptions and uncover material motivators, concerns or other barriers. This will then inform and enable positive and efficient project design and delivery.
We will work with you to design, enable or carry out longer term engagement with key stakeholders to ensure that everyone remains supportive for the lifetime of the project and beyond.
If you want to have a chat with our engagement team and how we can help you, please drop us an email at wilding@rsk.co.uk
BNG BSI Standard: https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/process-for-designing-and-implementing-biodiversity-net-gain-specification
guidance produced by CIEEM, ISEP and CIRIA: https://cieem.net/resource/mandatory-biodiversity-net-gain-in-england-technical-guide/