Abstract
The mining industries of Sweden and Finland currently face several policy issues around investment, stakeholder involvement, and sustainability. Since the two countries garnered significant attention during the mining boom, research from a social sciences perspective grew significantly. One approach to understanding how these issues in Sweden and Finland compare to international examples is through an analysis of the policy development framework. Looking at three factors—institutions, actors, and process—gives a broad overview of the imminent challenges in both Sweden and Finland and potential lessons from existing research that point to similar problems and their solutions. As the mining operations continue to sit at the center of different values, capable policy is required.
Highlights
Strong growth in any industry attracts attention from other sectors, such as government, Indigenous groups, NGOs, and academia, as the debate over the consequences follows
From a policy process perspective, mining provides an interesting but not uncommon case of competing interests and values, a non-renewable resource that requires land use and causes irreversible change to the ecosystem but, often, generates significant revenues both for the state and for private actors. Reconciling these values and the multiple interests associated with land use remains a persistent challenge for countries endowed with natural resources, not the least as governments look to stay in power and politicians to get reelected
While some suggest that mining, as an activity and industry, naturally leads to negative environmental and social outcomes for local communities with little economic compensation, others argue that institutional design matter in relation to the magnitude of negative outcomes
Summary
Strong growth in any industry attracts attention from other sectors, such as government, Indigenous groups, NGOs, and academia, as the debate over the consequences follows. Governments in resource-rich countries must attract investment to ensure that national resource revenue continues while, on the other hand, creating parameters for mining that considers local interests and limits negative effects in the environment as well as on existing sociocultural practices. In political practice, this challenge of balancing or merging the three dimensions of sustainability (e.g., economic, ecological, social) becomes increasingly. Highlighting key issues in Sweden and Finland related to each of the institutions, actors and process, point out some of the practical implications, and the strategies used to either take advantage of opportunities or mitigate problems. Assessing the findings of the review and highlighting areas of strength in the policy and pointing to keys areas that we believe would benefit from additional attention
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