Wherever the interests of commercial enterprises, government and local communities intersect, there is a potential for conflict to arise, putting all of their interests at risk. When governments and large companies engage in the development of infrastructure or commercial projects, EG. in the fields of energy production, resource extraction, agriculture and forestry, local communities or the environment are often adversely affected. A case in point might be where a large scale hydro-electric scheme (in the broader interest of a developing economy) is launched, and as a result the tenure rights of thousands of local small scale farmers are threatened. In such a case in is in everyone’s interest to meet and collectively plan a way forward.

Ben Schoeman has over the past decade specialised in conducting complex, multi-party mediations in such commercial and developmental disputes. He mediated processes between mining houses in local communities in South Africa, most notably between TransHex (a diamond mining concern) and the Richtersveld community of the Northern Cape in South Africa. The community won a land claim giving them control over a vast area which included TransHex’s existent mining concessions. Over the span of a couple of years, Ben helped the mine and community come to an agreement on land use, mining rights, artisinal mining rights, equity sharing and royalties. The process was supported and the outcomes endorsed by the government.

While contracted by the Sustainable Communities Unit of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), he facilitated comprehensive and multi-lateral developmental plans and agreements in a number of communities in South Africa. A good example is his work in setting up and managing the Grabouw Sustainable Development Initiate with led to a transformative new spatial and economic development plan  for the town and area.

More recently, Ben has been contracted by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank. The CAO responds to complaints from project-affected communities with the goal of enhancing social and environmental outcomes on the ground. He designed, managed and conducted a two year mediation process between a commercial forestry company and local affected communities. After agreements were reached, he also monitored and supported the implementation of these complex agreements for a further four years.

Social Impact Assessment is a processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. The goal of impact assessment is to bring about a more ecologically, socio-culturally and economically sustainable and equitable environment. Impact assessment, therefore, promotes community development and empowerment, builds capacity, and develops social capital.

As a result of his experience in public consultation processes as well as community mediation, Ben has developed sound knowledge in conducting detailed social impact assessment. He has various process designs and tools at his disposal to ensure productive and positive outcomes.

It is often said that “good fences make good neighbours”, but what happens when these fences, be they legal, political or physical are breached? Some of the most common but also most intractable disputes are about rights to land. Yet solutions can be found.

Ben Schoeman has many years’ experience in helping parties resolve disputes involving their ownership or claims to land. He mediated a number of restitution and redistribution cases brought under South Africa’s land reform programme.

We live in a time of public engagement and consultations. These processes are often complex and contentious, long drawn out and stressful for all involved. A well designed consultation process, managed professionally and impartially, with clearly set goals and objectives, and very well defined steps and activities, almost always delivers not just well canvassed opinions and inputs from the affected public, but also a sense and reality of real empowerment.

Ben Schoeman has designed, managed and facilitated broad scope public engagement processes in some of the most challenging environments and highly contentious subjects.

Just one example is his work as part of a team on securing broad public input into the drafting of South Africa’s new constitution, at a time when that country was still deep in an often violent struggle for democracy. It entailed bringing large groups of ordinary South Africans together, people who had never had the right to vote let alone being consulted on the very design of the coming democracy, and allowing them the space to make inputs that would directly affect that design. Many nights were spent in remote locations, painstakingly recording the views and opinions of people from all walks of life, and leaving them with a powerful sense of ownership of the eventual outcome.

Stress triggered by workplace-based interpersonal conflict can result in damaged relationships, loss of productivity, diminished job satisfaction and increasingly, workers’ compensation claims for psychological injury. All available evidence suggests that mediation is the most effective process, when supported by organisational commitment to ADR strategies, policies and processes, and conducted by independent, experienced and qualified mediators, at resolving such conflicts.

Ben cut his teeth as a mediator during the 1990s conducting mostly workplace mediations in a very wide variety of contexts and areas. These have included everything from individual disciplinary or dismissal disputes, to enterprise wide conditions of employment disputes, to annual wage negotiations.

Ben continues to provide workplace relations services independently and through registered EAP providers such as Converge International.

Everyone knows how expensive and time consuming it is to litigate commercial disputes between individuals or companies. And often the results of a legal challenging are less than satisfactory for any of the parties. Mediation in commercial disputes has proven the ability to deliver much more productive, mutually beneficial and faster outcomes.

Ben Schoeman has conducted many commercial mediations, problem solving exercises and facilitations, leading to timeous and workable settlements.