Enhancing community and stakeholder engagement through better use of technology
While nothing replaces genuine engagement, technology can help us make better use of project information, prepare more useful questions and show how feedback informs decisions.
Start while people can influence the outcome
At Social Capital Advisory, we are developing approaches that bring mapping, correspondence and project records into engagement planning and reporting for energy, resources and infrastructure projects.
The useful question is what people can still influence. A proposed route, a facility design or a construction programme creates different opportunities for participation. Bringing the relevant information together can help an engagement team identify those opportunities and plan the conversations before choices are settled.
The films illustrate possible workflows, rather than completed client projects. Each example explains the information and review a real project would need.
What the film shows
A proposed transmission route is shown with homes, farming activities and community facilities. Illustrative views make the proposal easier to discuss.
From a transmission line to the people around it
A line on a project map can pass close to homes, irrigation infrastructure, farming activities and community facilities. This example brings those layers together around a proposed transmission route, helping an engagement team see where an early conversation may be needed.
The map provides a basis for questions about access, land use and possible effects while the route can still change. It can also help people compare illustrative views of proposed infrastructure and alternative locations or designs.
On a real project, the team would check current route, property and land-use information and use visualisations appropriate to the question being discussed. Conversations with landholders and communities remain essential: a map cannot establish their priorities or replace their knowledge of the place.
Discuss this approachWhat the film shows
A review of 214 fictional community emails identifies an unanswered access question and an outstanding update. Source-linked findings inform proposed follow-up.
From community correspondence to decisions and follow-up
An issue raised once can need more attention than a subject mentioned repeatedly. In this example, AI helps organise 214 community emails and compare them with the project team's sent correspondence. The review identifies a fire truck access question with no reply in the sent records and a promised weekly truck schedule that appears to have stopped.
The findings stay connected to their source emails. The film shows how they could inform a report with proposed actions, owners and dates, alongside a draft update explaining what the project heard and how it proposes to respond.
An engagement adviser would check whether a reply was provided through another channel, assess the significance of each issue and review the proposed response. A real workflow would also need agreed access to correspondence, appropriate handling of personal information and clear responsibility for follow-up.
Discuss this approachWhat the film shows
A resident request, proposed council footpath and draft underground cable route are compared. Their shared location suggests an opportunity to investigate coordinated works.
Finding an opportunity between separate works programmes
A resident has raised the difficulty of walking to the local oval without a footpath. Council has proposed a path that is not yet funded or scheduled, while an electricity network is planning an underground cable along the same verge.
The film brings these separate records together and identifies a question worth investigating: could the path be built when the verge is restored after the cable goes in? An opportunity brief could give the network and council a common starting point for discussing coordinated works and the possibility of avoiding repeat excavation.
The shared location does not settle the proposal. Technical fit, timing, funding, approvals and maintenance responsibilities would need to be agreed. Residents should help shape the proposed path, with a clear understanding of what remains open and what has not been committed.
Discuss this approachWhat the film shows
A schematic wind farm layout is shown alongside homes and an airstrip. Illustrative layers show how specialist findings could inform discussion, without validating the layout.
Helping people understand wind farm layout options
People need information they can relate to their own surroundings before they can give useful feedback on a wind farm layout. This concept film compares illustrative views, places homes and an airstrip alongside proposed turbines, and shows how a layout change could be connected to a concern raised in engagement.
Its schematic layers illustrate how checked noise, shadow flicker and aviation findings could be presented alongside the design. They are not validated assessment results. The alternative shown near the airstrip is an option to investigate with the operator and relevant specialists; moving a turbine on a map does not establish that a layout is safe or suitable.
For a real project, this approach would require accurate site and turbine data, calibrated visualisations where required, current specialist assessments and a record linking feedback with design decisions. SCA's role would be to help people understand and discuss that evidence, and make clear what can change and what needs further investigation.
Discuss this approachWhat the film shows
A fictional project report initially misses a survey result. The result, 58 per cent against a 70 per cent target, is linked to its source and checked by a reviewer.
Bringing the project's evidence into its report
A project can hold the evidence it needs and still leave an important finding out of its report. This film illustrates a review workflow using a project knowledge base: a collection of plans, survey results and other records that can be searched together.
The fictional quarterly report says the proportion of residents who feel informed about construction was not measured. A survey already holds the result: 58 per cent feel informed, against a target of 70 per cent. Bringing that finding into the report makes the shortfall visible and records that a response is due at the next review.
The film depicts links to source pages and a person checking the evidence. In practice, the reviewer would need to confirm the reporting requirements, source reliability, reporting period and meaning of each measure. The project would still need to speak with residents to understand the result and decide how to respond.
Discuss this approachExplore an approach for your project
If you are planning a project, developing an engagement programme or improving how feedback informs decisions, we can explore where these approaches would be useful in your work.
Contact Chris Hanna for a demonstration and a discussion about the engagement work your project needs.