Why earning local legitimacy and support requires project integration, organisational capability, and Board accountability.

What we learn from community engagement must reach the right decision owner with enough evidence, authority, and time for a response. The reasoning then needs to travel back to the people affected. This is a question for project leadership and the whole development team. It is not a new name for an engagement technique.

In shared space, efforts to build acceptability around a project are no longer enough on their own if the project itself has not been developed in a way that aligns with local realities and aspirations, and responds credibly to local concerns, from the earliest possible stage.