This section provides a brief overview of the mining, oil and gas industries, followed by an examination of their challenges and opportunities for community development in general and at each of the following phases of the project lifecycle. These include: 1) Exploration; 2) Development, Feasibility and Financing; 3) Construction; 4) Production; 5) Refining, Transport and Retail; 6) Closure and Decommissioning.

This section addresses the business case for company investment in sustainable community development. Since the 1990s, companies have confronted rising social expectations regarding their conduct and contributions to society from a variety of stakeholders. Companies also increasingly recognize that their long-term success depends on secure communities, healthy and educated workers, and key environmental services. Together, these trends are reshaping the risks and opportunities of doing business. Community development can contribute to business success by helping companies to obtain a social license to operate, create an enabling business environment, and develop local competitive advantage. Successful community development, however, requires attention to the sustainability of development initiatives; both their contributions to community sustainability and the continuity of the initiatives.

This section explores the need for partnerships between companies, communities, government and civil society for development. While many companies have created and implemented successful community development projects on their own, partnership can bring additional expertise and resources to projects and transform them into opportunities to foster communities’ ability to take responsibility for their own development. In fact, all can benefit from partnerships that coordinate and capitalize on each sectors’ capabilities. Most importantly, partnership can achieve greater and more sustainable development.

An introduction to each sector is provided, along with a process and tools for establishing and navigating a partnership.

Stakeholder engagement is vital to community development planning, implementation, and evaluation, ensuring that development projects are appropriate, effective, and sustainable. This section explores the importance of stakeholder engagement to development initiatives, the correlation of stakeholder engagement processes and development efforts with the cycle of extraction projects, and provides guidance on effective stakeholder mapping, initial and ongoing consultation, and engaging partners in creating financial sustainability.

This section also provides inks to additional tools and resources for engaging stakeholders in development.

The Community Development Strategy Section examines the importance of a strategic approach to community development that aligns community needs and company resources to produce tangible, sustainable benefits. First of all, five core principles are presented as a foundation for effective strategy development: 1) Be Strategic; 2) Adopt a Community-Driven Focus; 3) Build Capacity; 4) Work in Partnership; and 5) Design for Sustainability.

Next, a six-step process is suggested to guide a company through assessment, planning and implementation of high-impact community development programs. These steps include: 1) Needs and Assets Assessment; 2) Stakeholder Analysis; 3) Defining the Company’s Unique Contribution; 4) Designing the Program; 5) Planning for Partnering; 6) Budget and Resource Mobilization.

Many extractives companies have substantial experience managing local content programs, which enhance economic development through local procurement of goods and services, employment, and related initiatives. As host governments exercise increasing control over access to natural resources (especially oil and gas), companies are finding that the social benefits of their investments, including local content, are significant factors in determining overall competitive advantage. Other important factors include expanded global communication networks, trends related to transparency, and broader stakeholder awareness of social issues. As a result, identifying “win-win” solutions that match stakeholder issues and company business needs are essential for enhancing commercial value as well as securing and maintaining a social license to operate.

This section presents a traditional nine-step framework on how to design and execute M&E for community development projects. The framework consists of: 1) Creating a logic model and associated indicators; 2) Validating indicators with community stakeholders; 3) Conducting a baseline assessment in order to be able to monitor progress; 4) Setting targets for performance objectives; 5) Collecting data to gauge actual performance; 6) Consulting with stakeholders on performance; 7) Making project adjustments based on data and associated stakeholder feedback; 8) Evaluating project impacts; and 9) Communicating project impacts to stakeholders.