Land Matters Practice Development

INSPIRE, in partnership with a commercial renewable energy company, Social Resonance and Social Process, Land Matters is a project aimed at strengthening social performance in renewable energy developments – focusing particularly on land acquisition and land partnership strategies in South Africa. The national RE procurement programme has resulted in less than a handful of the more than 100 REIPPPP projects to be located on community land, leaving a lot of untapped potential for land partnerships between IPPs and community-owned and traditionally governed land.

Land Matters addresses this gap by practically supporting two solar projects under development as well as researching and documenting lessons learnt by the communal and industry stakeholders involved in the already existing IPP projects on communal land.

The Land Matters project integrates practice development support with broader knowledge-building activities. This includes attention to community engagement processes, advancing benefit-sharing mechanisms, and the lease acquisition process on community-owned land. The project combines case study research and a facilitated practice reflection space to foster ongoing learning among stakeholders. Insights from these activities will inform the development of practice notes, guidance materials, and policy advocacy contributions.