ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the issues, challenges, risks and opportunities that will arise and it provides more detailed and practical assistance in undertaking negotiations. The negotiation process is the critical central component of the land access and resettlement process. It can be seen as the centre-point around which the whole land access and resettlement process turns. The outcome of the negotiations will inform all subsequent activities, including resettlement construction, moves and livelihood restoration. A project in Eastern Europe commenced negotiations without adequate planning. A comprehensive agenda was not prepared, and there was no work plan, schedule or negotiation strategy. Some projects conduct land access and resettlement negotiations in a piecemeal fashion, using lawyers first to try to purchase land as a purely compensation-oriented commercial transaction, and then using their community relations staff to subsequently discuss other resettlement issues such as livelihood restoration. During negotiations on a project in Australasia, community representatives demanded that the project fire one of its representatives.
