National Social Licence Forum Summary

Social licence means different things to different people in different sectors, and in this context, the benefits of a social licence are not clear. Consensus that further work with communities, government, Māori and others needs to be done to examine the benefits.

This report summarises discussion at the event outlined below:

On November 15, 2017, as part of the Our Land and Water NSC project on trust and social licence in New Zealand natural resource sectors, Scion hosted an inaugural national ‘forum’ on social licence in New Zealand, at the Beehive. This forum brought together approximately 25 researchers and representatives from community/environmental groups, government, farming, farm forestry and processing sectors.

We believe this is the first time that multiple sectors, along with community, government and researchers have been brought together to discuss a topic that is extremely relevant for New Zealand businesses.

Five key areas of discussion were undertaken during the day:
1. What is a social licence? Discussion around how different groups see social licence and what it means to them.
2. What are the benefits of social licence to New Zealand businesses and communities?
3. Are there costs associated with social licence? Costs of not having a social licence and costs associated with gaining and maintaining a social licence.
4. What barriers do participants feel exist to gaining and maintaining a social licence, and what gaps in knowledge can research help fill?
5. What are participants’ thoughts about future social licence research?