Steps to build a social licence – analyse your project

To build a social licence it is important that you first analyse and scrutinise the project or industry that you are trying to build social licence for.

Over the next couple of steps you will build your toolkit by practicing the steps that go into developing social licence for a hydrogen project. If you are currently involved in a project, we recommend building out the toolkit using information from that project. If you do not have a project, please have a look at the CSIRO hydrogen map, choose a project and use this as a case study to complete the toolkit.

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Analyse your project

The first step of building social licence is to analyse your project and industry. Being able to communicate about your project in simple terms, ie on one page, is essential for communicating with a variety of stakeholders about the benefits, drawbacks, key milestones and progress.

There are a variety of tools you can use, such as SWOT and PESTLE. These tools, used together, allow you to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the project as well as how political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) factors will affect it.

SWOT framework and analysis explained

A SWOT analysis evaluates the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organisation, industry or project. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors impacting success, while opportunities and threats are external elements. This strategic tool helps identify areas for growth, assess risks, and create action plans to leverage strengths and address weaknesses.

In the learner toolkit create a SWOT analysis for your project.

PESTLE analysis explained

A PESTLE analysis examines external factors influencing an organisation: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental. This tool helps assess how these factors may impact business operations, strategy, and decision-making, allowing companies to adapt to changing external conditions and identify potential risks and opportunities.

In the learner toolkit create a PESTLE analysis for your project.

Articulate your analysis

At the conclusion of the SWOT and PESTLE you will have a range of information about your project. Using that information, you will then analyse your project to answer the following questions:

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your project?
• What are the benefits and impacts of your project?
• How might your project affect the community?
• Why might the community be supportive of the project?
• Why might the community be unsupportive of the project?
• When key activities will commence/finish

Your task

Download the learner toolkit and complete the section on SWOT and PESTLE. This will enable you to begin creating your own social licence plan for your project.