Social License to operate for aquaculture

SoLic – Social license in aquaculture - has investigated conditions, mechanisms and consequences of social licenses in the aquaculture sector. A social license is understood as expectations and requirements that apply to a sector and how the public perceives that their expectations are met. Obtaining and maintaining a social license for aquaculture is a two-way process where society's knowledge of and understanding of the aquaculture industry must be strengthened, while the industry must acknowledge its social responsibility and be in dialogue with its surroundings about how they affect society, including the environment. The Solic project has contributed to putting the concept of social license and the associated theoretical foundation on the agenda in research on aquaculture in Norway. The project has also carried out the first international comparative study of social license (Norway, Tasmania (AU) and Iceland). The results from the survey here in Norway show that the population is basically positive about the industry. This also applies to areas, such as in the larger cities, where it has previously been assumed that the population has a more negative attitude. In addition, the study has given us the opportunity to look more closely at the difference between respondents who live near aquaculture production (measured at the municipal level) and respondents who do not. Here, the results show that those who live near aquaculture production generally report better knowledge of the industry and a better general impression of the industry. At the same time, we see that this proximity to the industry does not have a positive effect on all variables, and it is important to take into account that the industry operates in many different contexts, e.g. both densely populated municipalities and very rural municipalities, and with varying degrees of economic importance in the municipality. In the comparative study, we find that contextual factors must be considered significant for different perceptions of the industry. At the same time, we also find that some consistent challenges exist across the national context, and these will be important to deal with in order to improve the industry's social license at global, national and local level. This mainly applies to the perception of the industry's environmental impact, and the distribution of financial gains. Furthermore, the study shows that large sections of the population experience having limited knowledge about aquaculture, which we find correlates with attitudes towards the aquaculture industry. Here it is particularly surprising that respondents in Norway do not score higher, as the industry's production and presence is on a much larger scale here. Our analyzes show that information and knowledge are significant factors in the work with, and the assessment of, the industry's social license. We have also compared the survey results with data on economic conditions in different municipalities and on magnitude of aquaculture production in the same municipalities. We find here that the population is more positive about aquaculture the more production there is in the municipality they live in. At the same time, we find that the same respondents tend to be more skeptical about whether the economic distribution is fair. Perceptions of an industry or its social license are shaped by many different factors, and it is sometimes difficult to know whether people's perceptions are in line with actual conditions. In Solic, we find that sustainability and the distribution of economic benefits are two topics that particularly affect perceptions in a negative direction. Based on local survey data, and detailed data on the Norwegian salmon farming industry, we therefore examine a number of indicators to measure the reality of these concepts, i.e. economic importance for the coastal communities (employment, value creation, ripple effects, etc.) and environmental pressures that are particularly visible locally; locations, emissions, disease, lice infestation, escape etc. This work is in its final phase and seeks to illuminate the extent to which these perceptions about sustainability and economic distribution can be explained by facts and actual development. The project has also contributed to theoretical development. In the social license literature, trust-based models for understanding and explaining the level of social acceptance/social license are dominant, but these have mostly been used in other industries and contexts (primarily mining in Australia, China and other countries). We have therefore used our results from surveys in two counties in Norway to test whether the models are suitable for the aquaculture industry in Norway. We find that the trust-based models have limited explanatory power for social acceptance of Norwegian aquaculture, and we have developed and tested an alternative model for social acceptance that better explains the empirical evidence.

Prosjektet har bidratt til å introdusere og øke kunnskapen om sosial lisens i forskning på akvakultur næringen i Norge. Sosial lisens begrepet er i motsetning til andre lignende begrep, som Corporate Social Responsibility, og ulike former for omdømmebygging (markedsføring, bærekraftsrapportering, sertifisering mv.) noe som skapes og formes av mange ulike forhold i tillegg til næringens aktiviteter. Sosial lisens er også et uttrykk for hvor mye tillit befolkningen har til regulering og kontroll med næringen, og befolkningens forventninger til hvordan en næring skal oppføre seg, selv om dette er forventninger som går utover det offentlige krav og reguleringer skulle tilsi. Resultatene fra Solic prosjektet viser at disse forholdene er svært viktige for næringens rolle i Norge, og at man på helt spesifikke områder fortsatt har et stykke å gå når det gjelder å ha en sterk sosial lisens. Prosjektets arbeid har blitt (og vil bli fremover) formidlet på ulike arenaer som er tilgjengelige for publikum generelt, næring, forvaltning og interesseorganisasjoner. Det er så langt publisert 13 vitenskapelige artikler i prosjektet som er åpent tilgjengelig, og seks artikler til er på vei mot publisering om kort tid. Dataene fra prosjektet vil også gjøres åpent tilgjengelig.

SoLic will investigate the determinants, mechanisms and consequences of social license in the aquaculture industry. Social license is understood as the expectations and requirements that apply to a sector and how the public perceives the fulfillment of these expectations. Earning and sustaining social license for aquaculture is a two-way process where society's knowledge about and understanding of the aquaculture industry need to be strengthened, while the industry must acknowledge its social responsibility and respond to signals from society. We suggest investigating determinants and consequences of social license, and the mechanisms behind them, on three levels: the macro, meso and micro, while also taking into account the complex mix of stakeholder interests and values. SoLic will bring together a multidisciplinary group consisting of national and international experts for this work. It will draw upon relevant academic and policy literature, a qualitative survey at the national and regional level, analyses of highly visible mediatized events, in-depth case studies at the local level, and mirroring these analyses in Norway; comparative case studies from abroad. At the macro level, we will investigate public perception of the industry, and the public’s trust in both the industry and public regulation (WP1). At the meso level, we will investigate how and to what extent specific mediatized events influence social acceptance and trust in the industry (WP2). At the micro level, we will study the local social license, ripple effects and case studies on capital income flows and their reinvestment (WP3). Findings from WP1-3 will be employed to investigate industry strategies for the industry to improve their social license and to conduct an international comparison of social license in aquaculture in Norway, Iceland and Tasmania (WP4). SoLic’s project members have excellent publication records, and are active in engaging with stakeholders both in Norway and abroad.