Social license to operate: Not a proxy for accountability in water governance |
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| Institution: | 1. Sustainable Minerals Institute, St Lucia, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4067, Australia;2. CSIRO, 1 Technology Court, Pullenvale, Brisbane 4069, Australia;3. School of Psychology, St Lucia, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4067, Australia;4. Hunter Research Foundation Centre, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2300, Australia;1. Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia;2. Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia;3. CSIRO, Salamanca, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia;1. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada;2. Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Academic Unit for Development Studies, Zacatecas, Mexico;1. Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability, School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia;2. South Champagne Business School, 217 Avenue Pierre Brossolette, CS 20710 10002 Troyes Cedex, France;1. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Division of Earth Science and Resource Engineering, 1 Technology Court, Pullenvale, QLD 4069, Australia;2. The University of Queensland, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia |
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| Abstract: | With the emergence of more collaborative, watershed governance arrangements and the engagement of various actors in decision-making processes, new questions emerge about the potential roles for these organizations and agencies in both upholding accountability, and in being held accountable. Therefore, this study explores the intersection between alternative collaborative watershed governance approaches, and the simultaneous emergence of the concept of social license as an accountability instrument in relation to water governance. Based on an empirical analysis of a case study in southeast British Columbia, where water quality contamination is primarily the result of coal mining, this study seeks to: (1) examine how social license is understood by a range of watershed actors; (2) better understand whether social license may be useful as a watershed-based or community accountability instrument as new collaborative modes of watershed governance emerge; and, (3) explore how social license may be enforced or enabled. Findings show how industry efforts to earn social license have created benefits, such as enabling community-based water monitoring, thereby building capacity for deeper community engagement in governance processes and a greater ability for the community to uphold accountability. However, we confirm that social license is not a proxy or silver bullet for enhancing accountability in collaborative watershed governance. Our findings reveal four specific limitations regarding the use of social license as a principle for accountability in collaborative watershed governance. |
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| Keywords: | Water governance Private industry actors Social license Accountability Resource extraction |
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