This one-day intermediate course provides a rigorous and practical introduction to implementing, monitoring, and evaluating Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in impact assessment contexts. Grounded in international human rights law and community-based practice, the course centers on Equitable Origin’s FPIC-360° Tool — the first rights-based, multi-party engagement framework of its kind. Participants will examine the normative foundations of FPIC, analyze implementation challenges across sectors and regions, and use the FPIC-360° Tool to work through real-world case studies covering project-level due diligence, national regulatory procedures, and community capacity building.

The course explicitly addresses how the tool can support impact assessment and independent assurance processes. Specific applications include ESG due diligence, demonstration of FPIC in energy and mining projects, voluntary sustainability standards (e.g., FSC and EO100), carbon offsets, development projects, and as a benchmark for the assurance process itself. This training will combine presentations, facilitated discussions, hands-on tool exercises, small-group work, and peer review, building participants’ capacity to design, evaluate, and improve FPIC evaluation processes in their own professional contexts. If you work with—or are responsible for—FPIC implementation, impact assessment, or social assurance, this course offers unique, evidence-based tools and frameworks you can apply immediately.

Level: Intermediate

Prerequisites: Experience with social impact assessment and/or community engagement and general knowledge of human rights. Prior knowledge of FPIC is recommended.

Language: English

Duration: 1 day (18 April)

Min/Max: 15-50

Price: $330

Instructors: Robert Mugo, Founder & Principal Consultant, RKM Sustainability Services Ltd (Canada) and Kaki Comer, Manager of Standards and Systems, Equitable Origin (USA)

Robert Mugo is the Founder and Principal Consultant of RKM Sustainability Services Ltd, a Calgary-based consultancy specializing in environmental and social impact assessment, indigenous engagement, and environmental and social governance across the extractive, energy, and infrastructure sectors. With more than 20 years of experience spanning sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, North America, and Southeast Asia, Robert brings deep expertise in the practical application of FPIC frameworks, community engagement processes, and impact assessment practice to some of the world’s most complex project environments. Robert is also a member of EO’s Advisory Council where he provides strategic and technical advice on FPIC, impact measurement, stakeholder engagement and other matters.

Robert holds advanced qualifications in environmental studies and international development, and has worked extensively with multinational resource companies, development finance institutions, international NGOs, and government agencies on FPIC implementation, impact assessment, and stakeholder engagement. He has served as a lead trainer and facilitator for professional capacity-building programmes in FPIC, environmental and social risk management, and indigenous rights for corporate, government, and civil society audiences across multiple continents.

Robert is a registered trainer of IAIA’s Foundations of Impact Assessment course, and has, since 2009, been an instructor for a number of environmental management courses at the University of Calgary. 

Kaki Comer is the Manager of Standards and Systems at Equitable Origin (EO), an NGO with a mission to partner with businesses, communities, and governments to advance transparent, sustainable, and equitable energy development through independent, stakeholder-negotiated certification and standards systems. In her role at EO, Kaki oversees the development, implementation, and revision of the EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development and its technical supplements, which set performance expectations for social, environmental, indigenous rights, and governance outcomes across solar, oil and gas, and other energy sub-sectors.

Kaki has technical experience in FPIC, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, social standards, and the design and application of monitoring and evaluation frameworks for sustainability standards systems. She has been centrally involved in the development of the FPIC-360° Tool — a community-facing, step-by-step framework for FPIC implementation and monitoring — including its field testing through community workshops in Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, and the coordination of the international Expert Working Group that reviewed and validated the tool.

Kaki has delivered FPIC and standards-related training to a diverse range of audiences including multinational energy companies, international NGOs, indigenous community organizations, government agencies, and development finance institution staff. She brings a practitioner’s perspective grounded in real-world field experience across Latin America, North America, and international policy forums including the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.