ID: 2013
Presenting Author: Anna Kantola
Session: 676 - Public Trust and Social Impact Assessment: Lessons learned from major projects
Status: pending
Follow-up research on the social impacts of mining as a tool for collaborative impact management in a mining-intensive community in Northern Finland, Sodankylä.
What role can regular follow-up research on the social impacts of mining play in social impact management in a mining-intensive community? And how can follow-up research be used as a communication method for social impact management?
The data for this research comes from five follow-up surveys conducted between 2018 and 2025 by the University of Lapland. This follow-up research is part of the social impact management plan outlined in Sodankylä’s "Mining Programme", which was developed collaboratively with local stakeholders, the municipality, and actors from the mining sector. The social impact management plan was formulated through a collaborative planning process involving these same parties (Suopajärvi & Kantola, 2020).
To develop sustainable and effective methods for assessing and managing social impacts of mining in a local context, there is a need for scientific knowledge, information, and communication regarding these impacts. As Missimer et al. (2017) note, sustainability is often considered a “wicked” problem—characterized by high uncertainty, conflicting values, and a lack of clear solutions.
However, as Sairinen et al. (2021) conclude, following Barrow (2010), scientific research on social impacts can help model how individuals, groups, and communities adapt to changes, and how mining affects the quality of life and well-being at the local level. Regular follow-up research can serve as a tool to model and communicate these changes.
Anna Kantola is a doctoral researcher from Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland, Finland.