Offshore renewables - social impact: two way conversation with the people of Scotland

10 Using the Dialogue Results to Develop a Framework for SIA and Recommendations for Marine Scotland

The two rounds of dialogue on the social impacts of offshore renewables involved 95 people and provided a wealth of evidence on the things that participants valued in their lives, how they felt that these things might be affected by offshore renewables, how they would like to be engaged by Marine Scotland on offshore renewables development and a range of other topics. This chapter reviews the outcomes in relation to the project objectives. It also describes how key findings from the dialogue provide elements of a conceptual framework for social values that could be used to improve SIA practice, particularly in the context of offshore renewables plans. Finally, the chapter provides some recommendations for future practice and research, especially in terms of operationalising the new conceptual framework (social values) within existing SIA processes.

10.1 Meeting the project objectives

In relation to its objectives, the project has

Designed and run a dialogue that:

• Enabled participants to contribute freely and effectively;
• Collected information about participants’ priorities, understandings and views;
• Analysed and interpreted the information collected and provided findings and conclusions to inform Marine Scotland’s future decision-making; and
• Provided feedback to participants about the way their input had been used and opportunities to verify the interpretation made of this input. (Objectives 1a, 1d).

Developed a bottom-up process that enabled participants to identify and explore the things (both physical things as well as relationships and activities) that are important in their lives. (Objective 1b)

Created an interactive map that enabled participants to examine a set of realistic scenarios for the development of offshore renewables and consider how these might affect the things they valued. (Objective 1c)

Created materials and exercises which enabled participants to understand the decision-process for the development of offshore renewables and to develop suggestions about how they would like Marine Scotland, other decision-makers and developers to engage with them in the future, including appropriate tools for engagement. (Objective 1e)

Demonstrated that there is an appetite for learning and contributing to decisions about marine development issues among many members of the public who do not normally engage in these issues, both in coastal and inland locations. (Objective 2)

Developed an approach to understanding what is important to people and why and how these values might be affected, positively or negatively by offshore renewables, by combining learning from existing research (including understandings about what people value and why and the theory and practice of assessing social impacts) with evidence drawn from the contributions of public participants in the two rounds of the dialogue. (Objectives 3 and 4)

These aspects are discussed in more detail below.

It should be noted that this was a qualitative study where the emphasis was on the range and variety of themes that arose within the topics discussed. The dialogue was successful in enabling participants to contribute freely and effectively to conversations and in exploring their priorities, understandings and views of what was important to them, but if considered purely as a data collection exercise then it should be noted that whilst a range of locations and types of participant were included it was not a large sample and could not be considered representative in statistical terms.

10.2 Operationalising the dialogue outputs / outcomes in SIA practice

There is a requirement for marine planning to include an assessment for sustainability. Section 2.44 of the UK Marine Policy Statement^[42] states that “The Sustainability Appraisal” for each Marine Plan “will consider the potential social, economic and environmental benefits and adverse effects of the proposals set out in a draft Marine Plan”. This could include SIA but the Scottish Government is aware that in current practice this is often limited to socio-economic assessment. The results of this project should inform the social ‘arm’ of the sustainability assessment and contribute to giving it greater consistency.

10.2.1 A conceptual framework for understanding social values

The public dialogue on the social impact of offshore renewables generated evidence on what is important to people in their daily lives. This evidence has provided the basis for developing elements of a conceptual framework for social values, particularly in the context of offshore renewables development (plans) and the assessment of their potential social impacts, using existing SIA methods and processes (what we call the SIA process framework). This is developed in Figure 10.1 below.

The conceptual framework provides a new way of thinking or new ‘lenses’ for thinking about social impacts. The procedural element of SIA practice – the SIA process framework – is informed by the conceptual framework for social values identified through this dialogue project, which better captures the range of key issues, factors and values that are important to people in their daily lives and that have the potential to be impacted (positively and negatively) by offshore renewables developments (as well as development in other sectors). Recommendations for how this work can be taken forward are provided below. In addition, some ‘quick-wins’ by which the conceptual framework can be operationalised immediately in SIA practice are outlined at section 10.2.2 below. It is important to reiterate, however, that the conceptual framework is based on qualitative data collected from a relatively small sample of participants and will need validation with wider publics.

At the plan-making stage, SIAs that utilise the conceptual framework should give decision-makers a better understanding of the social issues at stake. By describing these issues or impacts in terms of the lived experience of the people concerned, the assessment would also be meaningful to members of the public: this should facilitate further engagement and make the assessment process more transparent.

The various elements of the conceptual framework are:

10.2.2 Social value clusters

The analysis of the dialogue outputs grouped into clusters the various discrete things (key issues, factors, values etc) that individual participants had identified as being important. Aggregation of the data in this manner identified shared values that were recognised as meaningful across the different dialogue locations. These ‘value clusters’ are not abstract but refer to lived experience and can be developed and made more relevant to specific local situations by bringing in evidence from local people.

Following the Round 2 workshop, the cluster Education / shops / housing / healthcare in the Community category has been separated into three clusters: Education (acknowledging the importance that dialogue participants gave education, in terms of developing the skills and knowledge needed for individual achievement but also for community sustainability, the maintenance of local identity and culture and many of the other values), Shops and housing, and Healthcare. This structuring of values also recognises different focuses or perspectives for values: the individual, the community and the national or wider environmental focus.

While this has been a bottom-up exercise, the project team has compared the outcomes with international good practice as reflected in Vanclay’s work (2003, 2015) and found that is possible to read back from most of the clusters to social impact categories. This is illustrated in Table 10.1 and Figure 10.2. This gives greater robustness to the clusters, in that the values identified are backed up by research and experience in many different places. The insights from the dialogue have given greater granularity to elements that come through as particularly important for participants in Scotland: individual values related to people’s families and way of life (careers, employment and cost of living) and values about communities and their sustainability. Nonetheless, the value clusters identified in the context of this dialogue project would benefit from further validation.

Table 10.1 Clusters of social values identified and refined through the dialogue project

Value cluster levels

Individual

SIA categories

Way of life

Value clusters

1. Family / family life / intergenerational issues

2. Jobs / career / employment

3. Money / cost of living

Value cluster levels

Community

SIA categories

Community

Culture

Health

Environment

Political

Value clusters

4. Local jobs / local industry / community sustainability

5. Transport connections / technology connections

6. Education

7. Shops / housing

8. Socialising / recreation / parks / leisure

9. Friends / being involved / supporting others

10. Local identity / cultural heritage / Gaelic

11. Healthcare

12. Connection to nature / landscape

13. Local political and decision-making systems

Value cluster levels

Wider political and environmental context

SIA categories

Environment

Political

Value clusters

14. Landscape / seascape / wildlife / environmental change

15. National and EU level political and decision-making systems

10.2.3 Local context

The way that social values are expressed is influenced by local characteristics and practices (Table 10.2). Across the six dialogue locations, what was considered important and the potential positivenegative impact of offshore renewables on these things was talked about mainly in relation to local places, people, relations and practices. Impacts on these things were of particular importance or concern.

Table 10.2 Social values identified by participants as important to protect, by dialogue location

Dialogue location

Kirkwall (Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters)

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Inter-generational mix
• Community safety
• Healthy local economy
• Jobs to keep young people
• Remoteness while remaining connected
• Environmental assets
• Cultural heritage: sites

Dialogue location

Port Ellen, Islay (Argyll and the islands)

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Inter-generational mix
• Healthy local economy
• Jobs to keep young people
• Connectedness
• Control over island development
• Cultural heritage: Gaelic, events
• Environmental assets

Dialogue location

Helmsdale, Caithness

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Inter-generational mix
• Strengthening local economy
• Jobs to keep young people
• Connectedness
• Community safety
• Cultural heritage: fishing
• Environmental assets
• Strong community organisations

Dialogue location

Stranraer (Dumfries and Galloway – Solway)

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Restoring local economy
• Jobs for local people
• Sociability and community support
• Connectedness
• Improving environmental assets

Dialogue location

St Andrews, Fife

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Quality of employment
• Environmental assets
• Cultural heritage: town and events
• Community diversity

Dialogue location

Glasgow

Social values identified as important to protect / fragile

• Sociability and community support
• Cultural heritage: town and events
• Community diversity

What is important about the locally-developed categories is that they are expressed in a language and from the perspective the participants involved, and this makes them meaningful for people in Scotland. Some important differences in emphasis and focus are:

• The relevance of intergenerational relationships in isolated communities where community sustainability depends on young people being able to find work and bring up families locally, thereby remaining in the community; and
• The focus on the quality of work and its longer-term value as part of a local economy, rather than simply as a source of income. This is a complex area in which participants had mixed views about the relative priority of national or local economic development and sustainability, which was expressed for example when talking about the purpose of training for young people.

10.2.4 Impacts on social values

As a key part of the conceptual framework, the values clusters (Table 10.1; Figure 10.2) can be seen as “lenses” through which to look at the development process. Currently, an economic lens is used to assess the impacts (costs and benefits) of proposed plans or strategies, such as Sectoral Marine Plans for wind, wave or tidal energy. The social values clusters offer a new lens for looking at the impacts of the proposed change. If the most important values clusters are identified at the scoping stage, then recognising and assessing social impacts will involve looking at the strategy or plan with those value clusters as the focus. This is very likely to lead to the need for different types of data, for example data about the skills required for the jobs that will be created, the feasibility of training and the transferability of skill sets to other kinds of work, bringing to the forefront the impact on community networks and sustainability of different kinds of employment.

The values clusters provide a framing which could mean that different questions are asked about impacts, different data is collected and different decisions may potentially be made. Considering offshore renewables developments specifically, the outputs of the dialogue suggest that there are characteristics that are likely to be associated with positivenegative impacts:

• Characteristics such as the scale of the development, the speed with which change is expected to happen, the involvement of companies or institutions that are seen as being ‘foreign’ to the areas and a lack of transparency, can contribute to a perception of lack of local control and a threat to local identities and practices of all kinds; and
• Innovation and technological expertise tend to be associated with positive impacts on quality of jobs, careers and sustainability.

10.2.5 ‘Quick-wins’ for operationalising the conceptual framework

Section 10.2.3 below sets out a list of key recommendations that would help to fully operationalise the conceptual framework within plan level SIA of offshore renewables developments. These embody the longer term goals for SIA practice that Marine Scotland should aspire to – i.e. developing a process for SIA that fully takes on board a robust conceptual framework for social values. There are, however, a number of initial steps that Marine Scotland could take to put into practice some of the learning and key findings from the dialogue project. As discussed above, it is important to note that the conceptual framework developed through the dialogue project is based on a small sample size (e.g. the value clusters have not been validated through a quantitative survey with a larger / representative sample). We suggest therefore that the implementation of any quickwin actions is monitored carefully to ensure that unexpected results can be addressed and action modified. Key quick-win actions are set out in the bullets below.

• Refine / validate the value clusters for specific plans: the suite of 15 value clusters identified through the dialogue project could be tested and refined / validated for use in specific plans. This would ensure that the value clusters are a better representation of local circumstances, informing other SIA tasks that are undertaken in line with this structure / list of SIA topics (see above). This process of refinement could be undertaken via a survey with local residents, focus groups etc.
• For the assessment of a proposed plan, creation of a checklist of the social values of the potentially affected communities as the focus for SIA or list of SIA topics: a mapping exercise would be carried out to determine the communities potentially affected – positively or negatively – by a proposed plan. A sample community or communities would be chosen for engagement at the scoping stage of the SIA, ensuring that the sample includes a wide range of the different perspectives present across the communities affected. The Round 1 dialogue concentric circles diagrams could be used to get members of the community to spontaneously note the things that are important to them as individuals, followed by a group discussion about how these values are reflected spatially within the community and what is important in the context of the proposed plan: which things participants would like to see flourish and which would need to be protected. The results (completed concentric circle diagrams and record of the group discussion) would be analysed and compared with a reference table of the value clusters and the descriptive words and phrases from the Round 1 dialogue that were used to construct them (Appendix 11).
• Where the same words or phrases, or words with similar meanings are used in the Round 1 dialogues and by the communities potentially affected by the proposed plan, this would confirm the set of value clusters as shown in Table 10.1, which would be used as the list of SIA topics;
• Where value clusters that appear in Table 10.1 are not mentioned in the sessions with the communities potentially affected by the proposed plan, the ‘missing’ values clusters could be assumed to be less important for the potentially affected communities and would not be included in the list of SIA topics;
• Where new words or phrases that cannot be assimilated into any of the existing value clusters appear in the communities potentially affected by the proposed plan, a new value cluster would need to be created and included in the list of SIA topics.
• The team carrying out this community engagement exercise should include at least one social scientist who is able to advise on the fit between words and phrases that appear in the exercise(s) with the sample community/ies for the proposed plan and the existing set of value clusters.
• An improved list of SIA topics: the value clusters identified through the dialogue project and checked with a relevant sample community/ies can be used as a list / suite of topics for conducting SIAs of proposed offshore renewables – or other marine - plans. This list of ‘SIA topics’ could then provide a structure for related SIA tasks (see below), in a similar way to the list of environmental issues / topics identified in the EU SEA Directive^[43] (e.g. biodiversity, population, flora, fauna, climatic factors, cultural heritage etc). Crucially, the value clusters provide a more realistic / granular representation of what matters to people in their daily lives therefore using them as a structure for SIA would help to ensure that SIA assessments, recommendations etc. are better grounded in reality and more effective.
• A more structured approach to key SIA tasks: using the value clusters, key SIA tasks could be undertaken in such a way that they become more targeted and useful in terms of how they capture and reflect the ‘lived experience’. For example, the value clusters could be used for scoping, including, where relevant, scoping in / out of discrete values within the clusters (see Figure 10.1). Also, reviewing other relevant plans and programmes and objectives / targets therein in SIA could be structured using the value clusters – in this manner, specific social values can be linked to specific social objectives (identified at different scales, e.g. national / local) to identify the desired direction of change (in policy). Linking strategy to current conditions (baseline) and trends can then help to identify the dynamics of social systems and key issues and opportunities for consideration in planning and SIA. Similar approaches are endorsed in EU SEA policy and guidance (Partidario, 2012).
• Good-practice community engagement in SIA and plan-development: the Round 2 dialogue identified a number of aspects of good-practice for conducting community engagement in SIA and the development of offshore renewables plans and projects. These good-practices are set out at section 9.2, many of which are widely held in existing policy and practice (e.g. the use of early engagement) though others are more novel / offshore renewables specific (e.g. only consulting people when there is enough information available on the plan / project to allow informed debate, the notion that people don’t want surprises and the use of liaison groups as a focal point for community engagement). Marine Scotland and other relevant stakeholders should consider how these good-practice recommendations can be adopted in community engagement for offshore renewables plans and projects.

10.2.6 Medium-term measures for developing the operational framework

Table 10.3 shows how social value clusters could be used at different stages of SIA.

Table 10.3 Uses of social value clusters at different stages of SIA

SIA stage

Scoping

How social value clusters could be used

Using the social value clusters as a structure for data collection would help to understand what a community’s main capacities (strengths) and weaknesses or vulnerabilities are and therefore which social issues (values) should be the focus in the SIA.

Suggested techniques

• Public dialogue, at the appropriate scale, to prioritise key value clusters.
• Wider engagement.
• Indicator data for baseline.

SIA stage

Assessment

How social value clusters could be used

Comprehensive information on key social value clusters would ensure that the assessment of social impacts is evidence- based and that the significance of any potential impacts (positive and negative) can be evaluated effectively.

Suggested techniques

• Surveys or other information-gathering techniques.

SIA stage

Consultation

How social value clusters could be used

Presenting information in terms of values that people recognise should enable a ‘no surprises’ consultation.

Suggested techniques

• Public dialogue could be useful in contentious areas.

SIA stage

Post- Adoption

How social value clusters could be used

Using social value clusters to explain how issues raised by the public have been addressed should make the Post-Adoption Statement more meaningful.

Monitoring should be based on the social impacts that were predicted in the assessment.

Suggested techniques

• Monitoring: Surveys or dialogue on impacts on social value clusters.

10.2.7 The collection of systematic data on values clusters

Based on a standard and recognised set of value clusters, a range of techniques can be used to collect data on potential impacts of offshore renewable energy plans, strategies and projects, as demonstrated in relation to several techniques trialled as part of the Round 2 dialogue. What is important is that at least initially, there is likely to be a demand for new data on social impacts that have not been measure in the past or for which data is not available at the local community level. During the Round 2 session on how indicators could be used to develop understanding of the potential impacts of offshore renewables on transport and communications connections, some participants struggled to see how the kind of data available (for example, indicators on bus connections) could feedback meaningfully into an understanding of social impacts as it did not cover all the aspects that mattered to them, such as the quality of transport services and internet connections. In some cases, quantitative data may be valuable in assessing the scale of impacts on things of value, but in other cases it may be more important to get qualitative data, for example of the range of functions served by transport or communications infrastructure or the quality of those services.

The set of value clusters could be used as a reference list to make sure that all the types of social values are explored:

• As part of gathering information about the baseline situation in the area / community in terms of the features that are most valued (and therefore need to be protected and maintained) or that cause greatest concern (and that might be improved);
• To identify the range of potential impacts of proposed policies or developments; and
• To understand relationships between valued features and recognise possible synergies and cumulative effects of planned developments.

The main challenge for data collection will be to find different types of data on topics that may not have been considered in SIAs in the past, such as data on changes in social networks and or in practices seen as embodying local identities and culture.

10.2.8 Mapping value clusters to existing indicators

All the value clusters should be mapped to existing indicators and datasets. This would identify the data available at different scales and for different topics that could be useful for conducting more realistic or granular SIAs, especially data from the national statistics service (http://statistics.gov.scot/). This data could be useful at all stages of SIA.

Once the data mapping has been undertaken, a gap analysis should be undertaken to identify strategic data needs to be able to populate and assess indicators against all value clusters. This would be a separate piece of work that may result in additional indicators or data needs that would need to be maintained by Marine Scotland or another department of the Scottish Government.

10.2.9 SIA template

An SIA template could be developed, based on the value clusters and comprising SIA objectives, assessment criteria and indicators. This would provide a starting point for objectives-led SIA (in line with policy and guidance for other forms of strategic IA in Scotland, especially SEA).

10.2.10 Potential implications for project SIA and developers

The public dialogue described in this report focused mainly on the plan-making stage of offshore renewables development, when engagement is primarily between Marine Scotland and stakeholders, including members of the public and local communities. In discussing the potential impacts of hypothetical developments, participants often raised issues about local impacts that might be associated with the development of local projects. Their questions and observations were extremely valuable for identifying and describing issues from the perspective of the local community, but it was not within the scope of the project to bottom out the most appropriate approaches to assess social impacts at the level of specific development projects.

As a result, the conceptual framework developed through the dialogue, the ‘quick-wins’ and the recommendations for future practice and research concentrate on the plan or strategy level of assessment and decision-making. In developing and implementing the conceptual framework, Marine Scotland will need to ensure that offshore renewables developers use the information about social values and the potential impacts identified in the plan-level assessment as a baseline for their own project-level assessments and for monitoring social impacts over the stages of the project. Having a clearly structured framework of social values and potential impacts on them should be of benefit to developers, as it will define the key social issues that need to be explored and provide initial information on which to build project-level assessments.

The use of social value clusters is also relevant and could also be applied to many other kinds of development. Many issues that the dialogue participants identified as opportunities or concerns in relation to offshore renewables are also relevant to other sectors; some examples are the creation of new jobs, generation of demand for services and disruption to transport and communications connections. If developers in different fields begin to use the same framework, there may be opportunities for collaboration, for example in carrying out joint assessments for developments involving a number of different sectoral interests or in sharing local data on issues of particular concern.

10.3 Reflections on dialogue as a method for exploring complex subjects

In both rounds of the dialogue, participants showed a real appetite for exploring the issues raised, probing with questions for further information about offshore renewables, the way that development processes happen and the associated changes in the local area. Having specialists involved as part of the conversations meant that they could get answers to many of their questions immediately and this was much appreciated. Throughout the two rounds, the discussions were wide-ranging in scope, allowing many different and often contradictory aspects to be brought out. This allowed nuanced understandings to emerge, along with the recognition of the many different factors, from geography and environment to cultural and socio-economic conditions, as well as personal experience and perspectives, that affect responses.

A similar process was seen in all six Round 1 locations, which supports the idea that there is an appetite for this kind of conversation across different parts of the country and different types of communities. Participants themselves commented on the value of the process for developing ideas in a supportive and non-confrontational setting.

10.3.1 Recommendations to Marine Scotland for future engagement

The dialogue demonstrated that members of the public have the ability to understand and assess complex issues and processes and explore subtle trade-offs. It would therefore be valuable to adopt more participative processes in policy-making and marine planning / development. Key recommendations to Marine Scotland from this dialogue project include:

• Develop the dialogue materials: the materials developed and used in this dialogue have the potential to be developed further and used by Marine Scotland (and others, for example in the Scottish Government) in SIAs of future sectoral marine plans and potentially plans in other sectors. The materials could usefully be developed into a standard ‘toolkit’ (e.g. a set of ‘pieces’ within a ‘board game’ design) that would be portable and reusable, supporting deliberative engagement with communities on social values and impacts;
• Provide training for Marine Scotland personnel in undertaking / managing deliberative engagement: it is sometimes more appropriate for community engagement on proposed plans and developments to be undertaken by a third party (e.g. a contractor, a community group or a third sector organisation) for reasons of independence, credibility and impartiality. Notwithstanding this, it could be useful for Marine Scotland staff involved in planning and policy-development to be trained in deliberative engagement techniques, either to deliver engagement themselves or to manage others effectively;
• Undertake social research to validate social values: the social value clusters developed through this dialogue were identified on the basis of qualitative data and analysis and are not representative of the views of the wider population (e.g. Scotland as a whole, coastal communities in Scotland, etc.) In order to validate and refine these value clusters, it could be beneficial to undertake a quantitative study (e.g. a face-to-face or online survey) with a representative sample of the population of interest; and
• Consider the implications for the private sector: the dialogue was undertaken with Marine Scotland and with SIAs of sectoral marine plans in mind. The use of social value clusters would need to be taken through from the plan level into the development of individual projects. Marine Scotland may therefore also consider the value of developing specific guidance for developers on how social values can be better incorporated within project Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA).