“For me to live well, my neighbors must also live well”
— Pablo Sanchez, Agricultural Engineer, Cajamarca, Peru
The tension between change and tradition is often at the forefront of complex development conflicts. At one level, these conflicts are about water quality and quantity, threats to economic livelihood, health concerns, air pollution, environmental security, and the effects of global warming. Their roots reach deeper, however, to issues of trust and respect, dignity and self esteem, independence and self reliance, preservation of culture and lifestyle, and the role of government, companies and communities in determining a joint future.
CDR works with groups to prevent and address high-stakes, social and natural resource conflicts that emerge when the interests of development, the natural environment, and societies collide. Our tools and products are field-tested for challenging work environments and calibrated to look at people’s perceptions as well as actual impacts. We offer a range of services throughout the project cycle, including:
- Conflict risk assessments
- Grievance resolution mechanisms at the project level to address conflicts with host communities
- Participatory environmental and social monitoring systems
- Stakeholder engagement and dialogue processes
- Mediation and facilitation of negotiations among civil society, government, and industry
- Independent expert reviews (social and environmental assessments, social and environmental performance, stakeholder consultation processes)
- Evaluation of stakeholder engagement systems
We focus on tough problems and places—oil and gas drilling in the Rocky Mountains, oil palm production in Indonesia, desalination projects in the Middle East, gold mining in Peru. At the heart of our practice is helping companies and communities:
- Construct working relationships based on trust and respect
- Achieve positive development impacts for the local community that enhance connections among groups rather than exacerbate divisions
- Explore whether and how a project can gain and maintain the social license to operate
- Evaluate and control for environmental and social risk
- Resolve corporate-community-environmental conflicts that arise
Particular strengths of CDR’s Sustainable Development Practice include:
- Its multidisciplinary nature
- The ability to be neutral in any situation
- Significant international, on-the-ground experience
- Independence
- Capability to support projects from initial planning phases all the way through monitoring, evaluation, and refinement of stakeholder engagement approaches
- Ability to consolidate and share learning regarding best practices
To see a successful application of CDR’s approach to sustainable development, read about our involvement in bringing a mining operation, the Minera Yanacocha Gold Mine, and the surrounding Peruvian community together to solve a myriad of environmental, social, and economic problems:
