BCS Services
All BCS services reflect the principles of the Community-Company Assessment (CCA), our core service. Services cover the following five areas:
- Applied Research and Analysis
- Training and Tools Development
- Reviews and Assessments
- Community Investment
- Contracts Management
Applied Research and Analysis
We undertake analyses and apply the results of our research to benefit clients. Our Applied Research and Analysis services provide a full picture of the broad stakeholder environment so that clients are well informed before undertaking an initiative, making a strategic choice or embarking on an action. We provide tools and propose participatory processes to strengthen community engagement so the clients can obtain and maintain a social license to operate. BCS research and analysis result in practical solutions. Our services include:
- Stakeholder engagement and analysis
- Analysis of options for multi-stakeholder initiatives
- Scoping assessments with institutional analysis
- Partner analysis to select right partners for implementation and for leverage
- Participatory tools for use by community members and by companies
- Social and gender analysis
- Local context analysis
- Institutional analysis
- Social risk analysis and assessment of potential impacts when we conduct socio-economic baselines
Training and Tools Development
All BCS initiatives have an eye to building capacities to carry out the work we do. BCS training programs focus on the questions most critical to the learner, and are designed for each context. A key part of training involves adapting and using extant tools to fit particular needs. Our training programs include:
- Stakeholder engagement and analysis
- Participatory needs and capacities assessment
- Participatory monitoring and evaluation for companies and communities
- Building community capacities for negotiating with companies
- Community-company relations assessment
- Social and gender analysis
BCS develops tools for your specific needs in all areas of our research spanning the entire project cycle in community engagement. Our tools help clients address issues systematically and incorporate many points of view. Our tools include:
- Grievance mechanisms
- Community scorecards
- Consensus building
- Participatory budgeting
- Opportunity ranking
- Stakeholder analysis
BCS uses proven participatory monitoring and evaluation methods to conduct reviews and assessments. These methods provide reliable data and analysis and can contribute to bringing about change based on participation in reviews and assessments.
Reviews and Assessments
BCS reviews and assessment cover a wide array of community-based work. We review and assess such plans and ongoing activities as:
- Community development programs in health, education, economic development, micro-finance, livelihoods, and others.
- Monitoring initiatives—review and recommend improvements and set up monitoring systems.
- Corporate-community engagement—we use a unique tool for assessing engagement.
- Stakeholder engagement—review existing plans, help develop new plans.
- Technical studies such as social impact assessments or scoping reports that others have generated.
- Community foundations—their strategy, operations and results.
- Corporate and other community investments.
- Other technical studies to ensure that your plans take social issues and measures into account effectively.