While communities have been actively engaged in the design of recreational spaces, roads, public transport infrastructure, and even in the water and wastewater sectors, such participation in the design of oil and gas infrastructure is limited.
Aurecon's Queensland and northern Australia communication and stakeholder engagement lead Donna Marshall told Energy News that while the view was that the community could have more input into the design of such projects they are familiar with, not so for a gas well, pipeline or refinery.
Yet they are not so dissimilar, in that communities want to be involved in the design of a road for the same reason as they would oil and gas infrastructure - to affect how it impacts their lives.
Marshall said that even with recreational space developments, community participation did not mean handing over complete control of the design to non-professionals.
Standards, safety requirements and functional outcomes must still be met through sound engineering practice.
The key, she said, was to identify the elements that could be handed over to the community or at least collaborated on with these stakeholders, to produce a win-win such as the surface treatment, the type of materials used, the layout of key elements, the final usable features.
This would result in a final design that meets all requirements but has a greater sense of community ownership.
"Social licence to operate can be expanded in the oil and gas industry into community-centred operation," Marshall said.
"Co-designing the workers camps to reduce noise and traffic impacts, co-designing gas field infrastructure to reduce visual and operational impact (noise and dust), co-designing the pipeline route to avoid sensitive areas - these are some examples.
"Engaging with communities early to understand their concerns and then involving them in design development to actively address these where possible is key."
She said there was also a need for public and private developers, and their interactions with the communities they impact, to be standardised across the board.
"Communities should be seen as host economies and there should be a universal move towards helping to co-design sustainable communities," Marshall said.
Call to action
The call came as Aurecon global communications and stakeholder engagement lead Kylie Cochrane was just appointed as the next chair of the International Association for Public Participation.
Cochrane said stakeholder engagement was traditionally underappreciated as a powerful tool for fast-tracking projects and for cultivating community acceptance.
She has witnessed many smart project owners and governments making use of digital channels and mobile apps to more effectively connect, engage and partner with community and other stakeholders, supplementing the traditional consultation process.
"Australia is seen as a trailblazer and one of the first western countries to understand the value of community engagement in designing public infrastructure, as well as helping shape its development, delivery and, following completion, its ongoing maintenance," she said.
Cochrane believes this collective approach means we can design infrastructure that lives within communities, rather than infrastructure that communities have to put up with.
"Nobody wants infrastructure that imposes on their neighbourhood or quality of life, and few people would sit back quietly if a monstrosity was being built next to them," she said.
"People need to be asked what they think and be given the opportunity to voice their opinion.
"Major infrastructure projects are only truly successful when the community is involved in projects and when they have the opportunity to raise concerns and be heard."
