Social cohesion in Australia is reported as being at an all time low. Why should we care?
I2S Co-Founder and Director Professor Sara Bice gives three reasons…
Social cohesion is one of four key parts of social sustainability, an idea that emphasises connectedness, wellbeing and durable resilience of communities and societies. In their excellent (and open source!) book, Louise Cord and her The World Bank colleagues define social cohesion as:
“a sense of shared purpose and trust, which allows communities and groups to work together toward a common good and respond to challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and natural disasters in a way that avoids conflict and war and drives real solutions and sustainable compromises” (Social Sustainability in Development, 2022, p.30).
So, when the Mapping Social Cohesion report, authored by ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences Dr James O’Donnell, says that Australia is at an all-time low in social cohesion, we should pay attention for a lot of reasons.
Our Crawford School of Public Policy I2S Next Generation Engagement Program focuses on infrastructure, so let’s take that major societal element and apply I2S’ research as an example for why social cohesion matters, in three quick points (obviously, there’s a lot more to it but, hey, this is a post):
1) Trust in government and the regulatory settings guiding infrastructure delivery are the leading factors that drive communities’ overall trust in infrastructure and their likelihood to accept projects.
When trust and social cohesion decline, so too, do social licences, for all types of initiatives, including infrastructure.
2) Liveability, including affordability, is a major factor related to infrastructure that helps us to predict levels of resilience in communities. Where social cohesion is down due to cost of living pressures, impressions of liveability decline and so, too, may levels of community resilience.
3) Social cohesion is critical to the types of delivery environments that can accommodate and adapt to the major changes required by the energy transition. Where social cohesion is low, politicisation and polarisation is often high (and the report shows this). Politicisation also drives public distrust in infrastructure projects and can lead to opposition and protest. For a fair and just energy transition to be delivered within the timeframe our planet needs, the ability of communities to work together collectively and adapt to change will be critical. We need good social cohesion for this.
Social cohesion matters for a lot of reasons in all sectors of our lives. At least for infrastructure, the current levels of social cohesion being reported in Australia should be a concern.
Proessor Sara Bice is Co-Founder and Director, ANU I2S, based in the Crawford School of Public Policy. The I2S team work hard every day to deliver industry engaged insights, tools and advice on social licence, stakeholder and community engagement and social risk management for major infrastructure projects. Sound like your jam? Get in touch.