SONI has published a Public Engagement Model that demonstrates its deep understanding of the importance of community involvement and commitment to achieving positive outcomes:
✅ Enhanced Decision-Making: Public consultation allows SONI to gather a wide range of views, experiences, and local knowledge from the community. This input leads to more informed and balanced decision-making, ensuring that decisions reflect the needs and concerns of those affected. By identifying potential issues and opportunities early, SONI can develop more robust and acceptable solutions.
✅ Building Trust and Transparency: Engaging with the public transparently fosters trust between SONI and the community. When people are involved, they feel their voices are heard and valued. This approach mitigates concerns, leading to greater public support and cooperation, reducing resistance, and facilitating smoother project implementation.
✅ Improved Community Relations: Regular and meaningful public engagement helps SONI maintain positive relationships with the communities it serves. By actively listening to and addressing community concerns, SONI can mitigate conflicts and build lasting partnerships. This enhances the social license to operate, ensuring that SONI's projects are not only technically successful but also socially accepted.
How do you ensure effective public engagement and consultation in your projects?
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SONI's grid development process is consultative, collaborative, and deliberative and we already go far beyond what is required by planning policy. We engage with local communities, elected representatives, landowners and industry partners on a daily basis across all our projects. Our goal is to find the best possible solution by understanding the views of our stakeholders and affording them the opportunity to shape our plans.
To support the timely delivery of Northern Ireland’s renewable energy targets, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure local communities are at the heart of everything we do. That’s is why we have published a new, enhanced Public Engagement Model to reaffirm our commitment to working together towards a cleaner, more secure energy future.
