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efforts that combine the building of socially functioning local communities in relation to mining
activities at the same time as these are operated as flexible and mobile entities dependent on the
other natural (e.g. biological) resources available.
Social Impact Assessments as Governance
Two of the major instruments for the societal and regulatory preparation of mining activities,
besides legal conditions of ownership, fees and taxation, are the impact assessment within the social
and the environmental field (SIA and EIA). The first also influences the ‘social license to operate’ by
forming the basis for IBAs (Impact Benefit Agreements). This framework was adopted in Greenland
based on experiences from global regulatory efforts in relation to large-scale industrial projects.
The impact of large-scale raw material projects in Greenland was taken up as an explicit policy issue
at the end of the last century in the 1997 report: ‘Impacts of large scale raw material projects in
Greenland’ written as part of the preparation for further independence (self-rule) of Greenland
(Direktoratet for Sociale Anliggender 1997). In this report, the objectives of eventual large-scale
mining activities were pointed out to be:
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Societal developments must be based on the demands and expectations that the
Greenlandic population has for a good life.
The primary male workforce in large-scale projects does pose a problem for the gender
balance of the population.
The negotiation strength for Greenland is its resource base. There is a need for time to
scale-up projects in which training of locals can be done to avoid projects being
dominated by an immigrant workforce.
As several mining projects have a limited life span the whole life cycle is important and
the impact through the creat [ۈو