Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The matter of social acceptance is a pre-requisite for social sustainability and of increasing importance to mining and renewable energy industry projects. If the social acceptance is low on a community level, it can result in local resistance to new green technological artefacts, in turn causing delays and disruption to the green transition. This research applies a mixed method to two pilot demonstrators in the mining sector. The research identifies the most relevant stakeholder communities and model the driving factors that influence the acceptance of a technological artefact in a community, by using the industry’s resources. By combining an Actor-Network Theory framework with theories on social acceptance and NIMBY, including the scalar model of the Social License to Operate and the social gap, the method seeks to inductively identify the drivers of a community’s social acceptance based on the community’s perception of an artefact. The applied method is (to be) used on two Nordic demonstrator projects in the mining industry in different phases of operation. The two demonstrators are mines looking to achieve sustainable practices contributing to the green transition and good community relations. The identification of driving factors is thought to inform better community engagement from industry.