Imagining a place-based social license to operate in the Aotearoa New Zealand agri-food sector

Keywords: Agrifood; social license to operate; digital storytelling; art; Indigenous peoples; place-based
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Social License to Operate (SLO) is increasingly used in the primary industries to talk about communities' approval of the sector. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the importance of public trust in, and reliance on, domestic agriculture, food and fibre industries. However, if we are to think differently about our collective and intergenerational responsibilities towards te Taiao and take a holistic approach to achieving better environmental outcomes by increasing and sharing value, we need to build on convergent perspectives among diverse communities, iwi partners and stakeholders. The diverse communities and stakeholders connected to the agrifood industry suggest that SLO should be understood as comprising plural social licenses that reflect alignment with different communities’ diverse values (Sinner et al. 2020) and attempts to gain SLO need to “engage with empowered communities” (Edwards and Trafford 2016). By better understanding the underlying worldviews that shape perceptions of farming and the agri-food industry, we construct new tools for empathetically connecting producers and consumers. Through word cloud surveys and interviews with a range of iwi partners and stakeholders across the agri-food network we identify these points of connection and use them to construct a short media piece and interactive art exhibition that pilots this method of facilitating conversations.