Mongolia 2012 day 3 brereton

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International best practices on the role of local governments in multi-stakeholder collaboration for socially accountable mining and sustainable community development

Professor David Brereton

Deputy Director – Research Integration

The Sustainable Minerals Institute: What we do

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• Mining – impacts and opportunities for local communities

• What should be the role of local government

• Making local government more effective

• How to involve local government more in the development process

Presentation outline

A story from Australia: The Claremont Preferred Futures Project

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• A collaboration between the local council and the company to better prepare the town for upcoming mine closure

• Preferred Futures Steering Committee formed under the guidance of the local Council and funded by the company

• Role of the Committee was to develop a strategy to broaden the town’s economic base

• Conducted socio-economic research and a community visioning process to inform the strategy

• Company and local government agreed to jointly fund a Community Development Officer to fund the strategy

Overview of the Claremont initiative

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Potential Impacts

Population influx

Increased economic activity

Increased demand on services (schools, health, etc)

Increased pressure on infrastructure (e.g. roads)

Social changes

Environmental impacts

Large-scale mining: impacts and opportunities

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Opportunities

Expand the revenue base

Create new opportunities for local business

Increase employment opportunities

Improve infrastructure and services

Access funding for social programs

Large-scale mining: impacts and opportunities

Maximising value from mining projects: what to avoid

Maximising value from mining projects: what to work for

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• improved quality of life

• protection of the environment

• more opportunities for people

• stronger institutions

• economic diversification

What we should be aiming for local communities?

Potential roles for local government

Representer &

Advocate

Service Provider

Approver Broker/FacilitatorPartner

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• In most mining economies, local government has little or no regulatory authority over mining projects – reliance on influence and persuasion, rather than direction

• Local governments are mostly focused on service delivery and are often hindered by limited funding and capacity

• Local governments often do not do a good job of representing their communities with companies and government

• There are examples of partnerships between local government and companies, but they are not common– limited capacity of local government– lack of interest from mining companies

The reality

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• Understanding of development principles

• Revenue management

• Program planning and implementation

• Consultation

• Communication

• Collaboration

What capabilities does local government need to play a more active role in community development?

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• Lack of capacity – too few personnel, limited knowledge & skills, inadequate funding

• Unrepresentativeness– Dominated by a few individuals and groups; does not speak for the

broader community

• Corruption and graft – funding used for personal gain instead of intended purpose– favouritism in decision-making

• Politicisation– Short term political goals of representatives dominate over longer

term community interests

Common problems with local government

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• Funding arrangements– Too much money, too quickly, is not a good thing

• Require companies to consult with local government in conducting baselines & SIAs, and when developing community plans

• Citizen education

• Training of local government officials and representatives

• Technical facility to support development of management systems etc.

• Companies to make their management expertise available

• Specialist advisers

Some suggested responses

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Thankyou!

[email protected] au

www.csrm.uq.edu.au