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SACCCS work on public engagement

Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, South Africa28 October 2011

Sharon Mashau – Assistant Manager: Public Outreach South Africa Centre for CCS

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Why public engagement?• Public engagement is used as a way of

communicating the challenges and benefits of emerging technologies

• To create community interest and trust on new technology decisions

• To educate different audiences about the benefits of the new technology

• Higher institutions such as universities and research institutions use public engagement to communicate their research findings

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Important steps in implementing public engagement program

• Understanding of different audiences that exist within the community concerned

• Prepare a formal public outreach plan• Establish links with institutions involved in public

outreach• Evaluate the public outreach activities and determine

if they are working

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The South African CCS roadmap

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Objectives of CCS public outreach• To engage the public about the risks and benefits of

CCS technology in SA, both locally and nationally• Raise awareness of CCS• To increase public understanding of CCS• To ensure awareness and of CO2 Test Injection

experiment• Ensure that CCS is placed in the context of South

Africa’s climate change, energy production and use• Implement the best practice on International CCS

and CCS public engagement

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CCS target audience for public outreach• National Policy developers Non Governmental Organisations Researchers and Academia Industry

• Local Community leaders Community residing in the area with the proposedstorage facilities

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What has been done?• Develop educational materials such as posters and

handouts• Atlas on geological storage• Development of SACCCS website• Placements of media articles • Expression of interest has been posted on the World

Bank website for public awareness sectors to raise awareness on CCS. The main objective of this study is to develop two public engagement plan (i.e. National Plan and Local plan)

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South Africa’s challenges• Access to basic energy for all South Africans• Quality of basic education• Lack of healthy life and safety for all South Africans• Youth unemployment• Food security

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Barriers to public engagement in SA• Languages. South Africa has eleven official

languages• Different religions, i.e Christian, Muslim, Hindu,

etc• Cultures

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Risks associated with public outreach• Appropriate engagement or consultation with the

stakeholders concerned• Negative public perception towards the new

technology based on experiences in other countries

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Next steps to engage with the public• Complete the World Bank and DoE study on public

engagement on CCS• Identify activities such as conferences, workshops and

science festivals to showcase CCS as per target audience category

• Develop materials such as posters and brochures aimed at public engagement

• Use various media platforms such as print, online, community radio stations and workshops to communicate and disseminate information to relevant stakeholders.

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Questions????

Thank you

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Core Parties

Participants

coal

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Email: sharonm@saneri.org.za

Phone: +27 10 201 8135

Website: www.sacccs.org.za