Stakeholder Engagement.
Mana Group Consulting is a leader in stakeholder engagement with a focus on the clean energy industry and rural stakeholders, working closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Labs, and critical groups like the National Association of Counties (NACo) and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
Engaging stakeholders collects diverse viewpoints from community members. These insights help identify effective solutions to address community concerns and garner support for clean energy development.
To identify and give particular focus to the groups most impacted by project development, the Mana Group uses a three-tiered approach for mapping, assessment, and individualized outreach strategies as shown below:
Stakeholder Engagement Formula
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Stakeholder Mapping.
Creation of a community snapshot highlighting critical factors unique to each community resulting in a shareable community connection database. This step takes the longest amount of time to ensure a thorough representation of the community is achieved.
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Assessment.
Analysis of development and cultural factors to support or delay a successful project, including time and investment needed to advance community readiness
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Outreach Strategy.
Idealized engagement goals include connection preference and how best to facilitate and maintain communication reciprocity.
Our Strategy
Community snapshots are developed using the three-pronged approach above and help identify gaps and targets for outreach, and strategies to connect. Continuous updates to expand the community profile focus on gaps and gain a more in-depth understanding of the influence of private sector interests; the history of trust/distrust among communities, government, and utilities; and the impacts of natural disasters, environmental concerns, and how communities are planning for and opposed to the existence of climate change.
The stakeholder engagement strategy is an organic plan that begins with the stakeholder mapping exercise and is managed by the Community Connection Database (CCD), which entails a local, regional, and state analysis that identifies the obvious and less apparent stakeholders influencing the community. The CCD often reveals prior engagement efforts and their impacts, showcasing a need for an adapted outreach strategy.
