Social license to operate applied to small hydroelectric power plants: community perspectives and reflections

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social License to Operate (SLO) is a way to ensure community acceptance for entrepreneurial operations. This study describes and discusses the perspectives from communities, and external agents involved in SLO acquisitions and maintenance for a Small Hydroelectric Power Plant (SHP). Then, we reflect upon SLO applications for fair socio-environmental management. We used a case study for the research design. Data were collected using documents provided by the entrepreneur and semi-structured interviews of 15 stakeholders. We performed content analysis on the information obtained, along with literature discussion. Community representatives and external stakeholders reported not knowing about the SLO term and expected more benefits for the affected region. We observed that the main characteristic SLO results occurred in the phases preceding project operations. After the project was completed, the relationship among the parties weakened. Although it can’t be possible to measure SLO level based on data from this case study, we point that SLO must take participatory systems, collective work, environmental protection, and social guarantees into account at all enterprise life cycle, to promote honest pathways for regional development. This study can contribute to discussions on implementing SLO in new contexts, such as SHP.