To gain access to the tool, please contact EO.
The Tool is designed for collaboration between companies and communities during the scoping, planning and execution phases of a project.
FPIC is crucial for ensuring that the development processes fosters full respect for the human rights, dignity, aspirations, culture, and natural resource-based livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples. In many cases, projects developed without community consent may face opposition and increase business risk.
Pilot-testing the tool: if you are interested in pilot-testing the tool and may have a suitable case study project that fits our eligibility criteria*, we would like to hear from you (see contact details below.)
Steering Committee membership: we are updating the Steering Committee Terms of Reference and membership to take the project through into the next phase of development. We especially welcome participation from those who:
- Can facilitate pilot-testing of the Tool (see below regarding project eligibility criteria)
- Have expertise in technology for development
- Have expertise in ownership models for community-generated data
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Co-funding partnerships: we are seeking to build a consortium of partners to co-fund approximately US$70,000 for the next phase of the Tool’s development, described above.
Community of practice: for this second phase, we have expanded the working group to a Community of Practice for potential users of the tool including standards systems, assessors, and financial institutions. If you are interested in joining our Community of Practice we would like to hear from you (see contact details below.)
For more information on any of the above, or queries, please contact Bruno Taborga: btaborga@equitableorigin.org
*Project Eligibility criteria:
- The development project is expected to require an FPIC process due to possible impacts that it may have on local Indigenous Peoples’ communities.
- Geographic scope: Amazon / Andes region prioritised, however other regions can be considered too.
- Project development has not yet started.*
- Project stakeholders (project developer, investor, affected Indigenous Peoples community, local government) are willing to collaborate on pilot-testing the Tool.
- Project stakeholders commit to testing the tool and provide feedback to inform its improvement.
Prices for utilizing the Tool will vary based on the functionality required and additional supported needed to implement the Tool. For more details please contact Equitable Origin.
Yes. Workshops were held in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with leaders of 15 Indigenous Peoples nations. They were consulted on the indicators and overall Tool.
Using the Tool to carry out an FPIC process can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks, depending on the project, dedicated staff time, familiarity with FPIC, and the complexity of the project environment.
The FPIC-360° Tool will help project developers and communities document the process from preconditions to the FPIC process itself and its long-term sustainability. We have found that it helps formalize and legitimize informal consultation processes. In this way, it can help avoid potential grievances in the future or ensure policies or procedures are in place to deal with them.
No, FPIC-360° is not a certification. It is a tool for assurance in FPIC processes.
The project developer should determine the community’s own mechanisms for reaching and verifying collective consent, as this is likely to vary depending on the composition and culture of the community in question.
Given that FPIC is a collective right, any thresholds shall be discussed with and mutually agreed with the community as part of the consent-seeking process (not just the negotiation phase, as communities shall give their consent to all stages and interactions in the process). Such thresholds can be formalised following broad consultations and can be made specific to particular aspects of the FPIC process as well as in terms of overall consent to the plantation. As a general rule, if the project developer is aware that a significant minority is opposed to the plantation going ahead, or that consensus over the plantation is proving impossible to reach within the community, it is wiser to assume that implementation will face similar if not exacerbated problems, and thus it is probably best not to go ahead.
Communities have the right to give or to withhold their consent at each and every stage of the FPIC process. This shall be clarified to communities from the outset of interactions and reiterated throughout consultations and negotiations. It shall also be agreed with the community, as early as possible, where and when consent is considered to be final and the form that final consent- giving will take, which could feature a combination of customary and legal endorsements, in the presence of third parties. To ensure that consent given or withhold represents the collective will of the community, where it comes to collective rights and decision-making, it is important to leave adequate time and provide comprehensive resources to communities to reflect, digest information and consult internally prior to the final consent stage. Thorough documentation of stages of consent given and withheld over each issue discussed is an important part of maintaining the transparency and accountability of the process and avoiding problematic repercussions at later stages in the process.