Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122 (Pohjoisranta 4), 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland; Risk and Resilience Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria.
Risk and Resilience Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria; Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zürich-Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
J Environ Manage. 2018 Oct 1;223:385-395. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.049. Epub 2018 Jun 22.
Several infrastructure projects are under development or already operational across the Arctic region. Often the deployment of such projects creates benefits at the national, regional, or global scales. However, local communities can experience negative impacts due to the requirements for extensive land areas, which cause pressure on traditional land use. Public participation in environmental planning such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) enables local communities to provide feedback on the environmental, social, and economic challenges of infrastructure projects. Ideally, participation can improve the means of social learning for all involved parties and help to co-develop sustainable solutions. The subject of our research is reindeer herders' participation in EIA procedures of mines and wind farms in Finland because these types of projects affect reindeer husbandry. We study empirically how stakeholders involved in the EIAs perceive the participation of reindeer herders in the planning and implementation of infrastructure projects, and how these differ from the perceptions of the reindeer herders who are affected by the infrastructure projects. Our qualitative data is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 31) with members of the industry sector, consultants, governmental authorities, and representatives of local communities; in this study, the reindeer herders. The results show that herders' level of participation in the EIAs and the benefits and challenges of participation are perceived differently. Furthermore, the regulatory framework does not adequately ensure that the developer carries social and environmental responsibilities throughout the infrastructure project's lifetime, and that regular communication with herders will also be maintained after the EIAs. Herders' expertise should be used throughout the project lifetime. For example, more attention should be paid to both negotiating possible options for compensation and monitoring mechanisms when the infrastructure projects are pre-screened for the EIAs, as well as to co-designing the different project alternatives with herders for the EIAs.
北极地区有几个基础设施项目正在开发或已经投入运营。这些项目的实施通常会在国家、地区或全球范围内产生效益。然而，由于需要广泛的土地，当地社区可能会受到负面影响，这给传统的土地利用带来了压力。公众参与环境规划，如环境影响评估（EIA），使当地社区能够就基础设施项目的环境、社会和经济挑战提供反馈。理想情况下，参与可以提高所有相关方的社会学习能力，并有助于共同制定可持续的解决方案。我们的研究主题是驯鹿牧民参与芬兰矿山和风力发电场的 EIA 程序，因为这些类型的项目会影响驯鹿养殖业。我们从经验上研究了参与 EIA 的利益相关者如何看待驯鹿牧民参与基础设施项目的规划和实施，以及这些看法与受基础设施项目影响的驯鹿牧民的看法有何不同。我们的定性数据基于对行业部门、顾问、政府当局和地方社区代表（包括驯鹿牧民）的 31 次深入半结构化访谈。研究结果表明，牧民在 EIA 中的参与程度、参与的利益和挑战存在不同的看法。此外，监管框架不能充分确保开发商在基础设施项目的整个生命周期内承担社会和环境责任，并且在 EIA 之后也将与牧民保持定期沟通。牧民的专业知识应在整个项目生命周期内得到利用。例如，在 EIA 对基础设施项目进行预筛选时，应更加关注谈判补偿的可能方案和监测机制，以及与牧民共同设计 EIA 中的不同项目方案。
