As we
begin the
new year,
let us share
with you
some of the
exciting
things that
have made 2011 special
for BCS.
Shale Gas was one of the top stories of 2011 and BCS was pleased to have
had the opportunity to conduct multiple studies, including social impact
assessments in shale gas areas. BCS’s Community-Company
Assessment (CCA) methodology allowed us to identify key social
impacts that are relevant to communities and also to pinpoint
recommendations that will have both immediate and long term positive
effects on Shale Gas areas. We thank clients for excellent follow
through, and this motivates us to continue working in the important oil
and gas sector. We look
forward to greater engagement with shale gas assessments in 2012.
In
2011, portions
of a larger study of BCS’s CCA were concluded
and results are available. In collaboration with London School of
Economics and University of Leeds, and several NGOs in the countries
where we conducted studies, we were able to learn about the extent to
which the CCA is a useful way to build community capacities for
engagement with multinational companies. For this we thank the core
donor, the Alcoa Foundation and a number of other country-specific
contributors such as the World Bank Group’s International Finance
Corporation. The University of Leeds coordinated the study, which
covered five countries: Brazil, Ghana, Ireland, Uganda and Zambia.
Reports from Uganda and Zambia are
listed below, and available through BCS:
Seeking Benefits and Avoiding Conflicts: A Community-Company
Assessment of Uganda’s Hydrocarbon Industry, developed in
coordination with the Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas (CSCO) and other
Ugandan NGOs.
Seeking Benefits and Avoiding Conflicts: A Community-Company
Assessment of Copper Mining in Solwezi, Zambia, developed
in Coordination with Catholic Relief Services in Zambia.
The remaining country cases will be released in 2012.
As we complete our seventh year in business, we are proud to report our
exceptional success in supporting and strengthening young professionals
to move on to strong careers. Former interns and associates of BCS have
gone on to work at the World Bank, International Finance Corporation,
Intel Corporation, ERM Consulting, and most recently, Apple. This
success is mostly due to the high quality of people we have been able to
attract to BCS, but we are also not shy to say it has something to do
with our philosophy of listening, respecting others and ourselves, and
ongoing learning.
