ID: 2140
Presenting Author: karol oyanader
Session: 542 - Are We Living in the Post-Consultation Era?
Status: pending
Consultation is losing legitimacy amid mistrust and misinformation. This talk explores shifting from procedural compliance to trust-based, culturally grounded, collaborative engagement.
Around the world, consultation processes face a legitimacy crisis. Communities increasingly perceive environmental consultations as bureaucratic rituals rather than genuine opportunities to influence decisions. In territories where identity, land, and cultural rights intersect — such as the Mapuche-Williche ancestral lands in southern Chile — mistrust, historical grievances, and misinformation create emotionally charged environments that challenge traditional consultation frameworks.
This presentation argues that the issue is not the obsolescence of consultation, but the erosion of trust in institutions and technical processes. Based on practical experience leading complex stakeholder engagement for renewable energy projects and participating in OECD-facilitated mediation, I will explore how consultation can evolve from a procedural requirement to a trusted social contract.
The session will highlight concrete strategies used in high-conflict contexts to navigate emotions, ideological narratives, and disinformation, including:
Building adaptive trust: shifting from transactional meetings to sustained relationship-building
Co-production of knowledge with Indigenous and local communities to counter perceptions of “technical imposition”
Transparency, reciprocity, and narrative discipline as tools to mitigate misinformation
Re-centring legitimacy through independent facilitation, cultural empathy, and shared accountability
Rather than declaring the “end” of consultation, this presentation proposes a renewed model where success is measured not only by legal compliance but
Senior Legal & Sustainability Director experienced in impact assessment, Indigenous engagement, and trust-building through culturally sensitive, conflict-aware dialogue in Chile’s energy sector
Coauthor 1: javiera arellano