Infrastructures, energy plant, waste treatment plant and generally any activity perceived as impacting the environment is often opposed by local communities.

Almost all of the territorial impact assessments touch technical and authorization aspects: but authorizations are not enough when communities mobilize, involving media, politics and Institutions, creating stoppage, uncertainties, delays, soaring costs. The challenge is to measure in advance the territorial risk and identify causes. The intention is to better assess the feasibility of projects and figure out if and how one can take action in order to manage political, social and environmental instances regarding an industrial initiative.

Public Affairs Advisors and its Sustainability Team have developed an innovative tool: the Territorial Acceptability Index, fundamental to evaluate the perception of a project at local level or to compare impacts between more projects. The peculiarity of the Territorial Acceptability Index is that it applies in specific territories for different types of civil and industrial works, and it is based on the latest analysis techniques, modulated to generate results referable to a unique and common parametric scale. As for the results, the Territorial Acceptability Index is able to generate both specific indices (environmental, economic, social, etc.) and a composite index of overall acceptability. This tool is designed to locate nodes where to focus in order to reduce or mitigate risks on oppositions. It is particularly suited to highlight communication drivers through Territories and engage them towards opinion leaders and stakeholders of a specific project.