Increasing the sustainability of a resource development: Aboriginal engagement and negotiated agreements

Abstract

While the role Aboriginal people play in environmental governance programs are often underpinned by the Crown, Aboriginal peoples are ratifying negotiated agreements with mining proponents to ensure their issues and concerns are addressed. This paper examines Aboriginal participation in mine development to show how more inclusive social and environmental development models can support a more sustainable development. Through two complementary processes, negotiated agreements and environmental impact assessment, Aboriginal peoples are maximizing their benefits and minimizing the adverse impacts of a project to create a more sustainable resource development. Case study analysis of the Galore Creek Project in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, illustrates how environmental impact assessment and negotiated agreements can co-exist to positively contribute to a successful mineral development, and hence operationalize sustainability within this context.

Socioeconomic value creation and the role of local participation in large-scale mining projects in the Arctic

“…Sustainable development in this context requires striking a balance between environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic prosperity (Horswill and Sandovik, 2000). According to Fidler (2010), more sustainable mineral development can be achieved through greater community engagement in the design, operation, and closure of a resource-development project. This supports the key finding of this paper: that increased involvement and participation of local actors in decision-making and negotiation processes during the planning phase has a positive influence on significant socioeconomic value-creation outcomes throughout the remaining phases of the mining project life-cycle.…”

Using qualitative scenarios to understand regional environmental change in the Canadian North

“…A summary of past (1950-present) and anticipated future (2050 and 2100) climate change-related trends was collated from studies focused on Arctic and/or sub-Arctic regions and more specifically on the Mackenzie Basin and/or SRD region. Primary themes included climate, land and animals, water resources, permafrost, forestry, fisheries and aquatic systems, transportation, and human health and well-being The resource development components were extrapolated from community member descriptions of past trends during the 1964 to 1988 period when the Pine Point lead and zinc mine was in operation 60 km west of Fort Resolution (Wesche 2009), narrative accounts from other communities, and literature on northern resource boom towns and their impact on Indigenous communities (Bone 2009;Keeling and Sandlos 2009;Kendall 1992) in the context of evolving relationships and negotiated agreements between Indigenous groups and mining companies (Faircheallaigh 2010;Fidler 2009). …”

Staking claims and shaking hands: Impact and benefit agreements as a technology of government in the mining sector

“…Mining companies have also expressed dissatisfaction with EIAs, arguing that the government is insufficiently proactive, that the official procedures are filled with insecurities regarding the final outcomes, and that they are too time-consuming for their business-related constraints (Booth and Skelton, 2011b;Fidler, 2009). In this context it is in the company's interest to readily involve Aboriginal communities in discussions over a project development in order to rapidly find common grounds (Esteves, 2008).…”