Stakeholder Dialogues
Best Practice Example

Main features and components

Training and coaching of facilitators, which should be qualified to prepare a stakeholder dialogue on site. For the stakeholders, namely the community members, company representatives, and representatives of the local administration, training and coaching meetings should be arranged. The participants are instructed on general issues as well as on community action planning. Problem analysis training helps to obtain common understanding among the community on proceedings, objectives and potential solutions.

Implementation / work steps

• Stakeholder mapping and analysis
• Establishment of stakeholder dialogue platforms (Community Dialogue Platform or Round Table)
• Organising stakeholder dialogue platforms
• Development and implementation of action plans

Requirements

Willingness for discussion and exchange of interests between relevant stakeholders

Lessons learnt

Lessons learnt during the implementation of SD in GIZ projects:

• Communities often meet SD activities with great reservation, so the start-up of dialogue platforms has been informal.
• Focus on common issues is needed to motivate a wide range of stakeholders
• It is necessary to start with community action planning to get common sense on pressing problems and related explanations/reasons

In Tunisia the foundation of a “National Association of Industrial Park Management Units” was assisted in order to exchange on similar problems and help each other solving them.

Output

• Intensified relationship between operator, companies and neighbours.
• Reduction and mitigation of environmental impacts, conservation of resources
• Generating income for the community, promotion of corporate social responsibility