Building social licence to operate: A framework for gaining and maintaining meaningful, trustworthy relationships

Social licence to operate (SLO) is increasingly seen as important by organisations globally. However, despite its increasing usage, the meaning and application of SLO are still poorly understood. Without a clear understanding of the concept many organisations believe they are building and maintaining SLO, only to find that their approach is failing to deliver them the desired outcome. While there are multiple conceptual models of SLO, each providing a useful understanding of the underlying theory and structure of gaining and maintaining a social licence, they provide little guidance on how to go about that process. Drawing on the SLO literature, interviews with researchers working on SLO, and workshops with social researchers experienced with engagement approaches, we have developed a framework that helps to guide organisations in gaining and maintaining a social licence by building and maintaining trustworthiness through meaningful relationships. Our framework extends the SLO theory by operationalising the gaining and maintaining of social licence. Our research indicates that it is not what methods are used to evaluate SLO that are important, rather it is how they are used to assist organisations to understand and develop SLO. This is because there are no singular solutions to building and maintaining relationships. Focusing on the process rather than being prescriptive about methods provides the flexibility to adjust to the context of the situation. Our framework has application beyond SLO. Other concepts, that are underpinned by principles of relationships and trust, could also benefit from this framework.