Antinuclear

“……..Australia’s CSG industry could learn a few lessons from the way the uranium industry worked on its image during the past three to four decades…….

in 2006, the uranium sector sought to bring a more sophisticated approach to its advocacy on public policy and in the following years there were some substantial successes……  the Australian uranium industry made a number of fundamental changes to the way it approached policy debates that helped improve its public reputation.

For today’s CSG industry, there are five important lessons that could be learned from the uranium sector’s experience.

Firstly, hearts and minds will not be won by facts alone. Good advocacy requires reliable factual information, but emotions will play a surprisingly important role in even the most technical debate. Understanding this is the first step to developing a communications strategy that will resonate with audiences.

Secondly, the CSG industry must learn that the battle is all about trust. Building trust takes many things, from showing technical ability to emotional intelligence, and company representatives will need to have both.

Thirdly, the industry needs operational standards that all companies maintain. During the uranium debate, the mystique and fear of radiation caused deep concern in communities that lived near mines. Codes of practice and reporting methods were introduced throughout the industry and best practices were shared across the industry.

Fourth is the lesson that transparency is your friend. The evil stereotype of spin-doctoring suggests it’s an exercise in denial, defence and deflection. These methods rarely work, whereas transparency builds credibility and trust.

Lastly, the CSG industry needs to get close to its communities. For many years uranium companies found that environmental activists had harnessed the concerns of local communities and forged a united front with them. The uranium industry learned from this and turned its focus to the aspirations and feelings of people who lived near the mines. Eventually some of the indigenous leaders joined the board of the Australian Uranium Association, and environmental activists were increasingly marginalised.

David Paterson was a founding director of the Australian Uranium Association, and general manager of external affairs at Energy Resources of Australia. He is director of Emergent Advisory. http://www.businessday.com.au/business/coal-seam-gas-industry-has-to-work-harder-to-win-over-critics-20130820-2s99z.html