The Will to Drill - Mining in Arctic Communities

ARCTICFRONT project, about the Arctic as a "mine frontier", examined the connection between mining development, knowledge policy, landscape valuation, and sustainable development. The goal is a better understanding of how environmental policy, management and practice can help in ensuring sustainable development in the Arctic - especially parts of Northern Norway, South Greenland and North-West Russia. There has been an introduction of a large number of new investments in mining in recent years, and the industry is expected to be an important driver in the high north. During the past hundred years mining has had a significant impact on social and ecological systems, labor and income, living conditions, demographic patterns and welfare. However, the mining projects have also adversely affected the environment and the ecosystem in the High North, created social conflicts and challenged a more traditional way of life based on renewable natural resources. The introduction of alternative understandings of sustainable development and power enabled to illustrate production and use of knowledge in political processes. Cultural and democratic legitimacy is essential to understand acceptance of social and ecological changes in the north. The term "sacrifice zones" proved to be appropriate in clarifying the distribution of burdens and benefits in major nature intrusions. Case Studies analyzes different social processes that leads to acceptance or not acceptance of the nature interventions that mining activity entails. Here we see that belonging, trust, social and economic benefits, as well as historical and cultural relations to the mining industry, are important. The studies show that the legitimacy of mining is connected to development potential, landscape valuation, cultural belonging and the experience of democratic legitimacy. The project's analyzes and results are published in its total in the book "The Will to Drill - Mining in Arctic Communites" at Springer Publishing in 2017, providing a unique insight into processes related to mining in the Arctic.