What´s in a social license to mine? Indigenous, industry, and government best practices for social innovation
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Luleå tekniska universitet - Enheten för statsvetenskap |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 3 141 965 |
| Project duration | October 2017 - June 2022 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | The strategic innovation programme for Swedish mining and metal producing industry - SIP Swedish Mining Innovation |
Purpose and goal
The aim was to develop tools to manage Swedish land use conflicts involving the mining industry, Indigenous communities and the state by drawing on Canadian comparison and experience. It was achieved by producing a hands-on SLO Toolkit, a Project Brief on Best Practices, and Policy Recommendations. The comparative objective was addressed by analyzing five mining projects across Swedish and Canadian jurisdictions in collaboration with non-academic partners. The goal to foster learning, networking and social innovation was achieved through Learning Workshops and a Study Tour .
Expected results and effects
For industry, the project generated knowledge and tools expected to improve interaction and relations with Indigenous communities. For Sami reindeer herding communities, the research offered insights into alternative ways to interact with industry and the significance of legislation and Indigenous rights. This is expected to build capacity to better handle future resource development. For Government, the project generated recommendations expected to help remedy weaknesses in the existing mineral governance framework. All partners are expected to benefit from new networks.
Planned approach and implementation
The project was carried out in three steps: 1 preparatory workshops, 2 analysis of case studies, and 3 learning workshops. Covid 19 caused delays and made both research and collaboration with partners more difficult. The case study in Northwest Territories (NWT) had to be carried out remotely and no companies or First Nations from NWT could participate in joint activities. Final learning workshop took place partly digitally, but a joint study trip was conducted in June 2022. All funds for travels have therefore not been used. Despite this, all tasks and deliverables have been completed.