Base de données de recherche des TNO

Régions: North Slave Region

étiquettes: environmental assessment, social sciences, mining impacts, policy, sustainability

Objectif(s): To identify ways to increase the likelihood of positive mine legacies, with a focus on sustainability-based environmental assessments.

Description du projet: The key question to be addresses is: how to improve the assessment, regulatory and associated decision-making processes in Canada to avoid negative mine legacies and build lasting net gains. The objective of this research is to identify ways to increase the likelihood of positive mine legacies, with a focus on sustainability-based environmental assessments. This research involves semi-structured interviews, including a brief trip to Yellowknife for those interviews that are best conducted in person, especially with First Nation stakeholders and representatives. This will allow the Principal Investigator (PI) to conduct key informant interviews with territorial and aboriginal government representatives, aboriginal community members and other stakeholders. The objective of these interviews is to help confirm the practical validity of the theoretical findings and to further identify areas of deficiency and potential improvements within the current mining regime, based on diverse perspectives. The primary methodology for this research is literature review of academic and grey literature, as well as documentary analysis. Interviews will be conducted via skype and in person (in Yellowknife) broadly covering the following topics: 1) About environmental assessments generally and about particular mining cases within the NWT. 2) What are strengths? Weaknesses? Areas to improve? 3) What are your main concerns regarding mining development and its impacts? About the Environmental assessment process? 4) What areas are left unknown for future work? The objective of these interviews is to help confirm the practical validity of the theoretical findings, and to further identify areas of deficiency and potential improvements within the current mining assessment regime, based on diverse perspectives. These interviews, however, are semi-structured and will not follow a regimented agenda. They will take approximate 20-30 minutes per interview. Prior to the interviews, a consent form approved by University of Waterloo Ethics will be provided with some information for the participant regarding his/her privacy preferences, and to request permission to audio record the interview. Audio recordings will be kept and stored on a password protected app on my personal laptop. They will be permanently deleted within 3 months. This project will fill a gap in current research in sustainability assessment application by exploring ways to build long-term sustainability into mining and other non-renewable resource development projects by evaluating the environmental assessment process in the Northwest Territories using a sustainability-based framework. This project builds on existing work in sustainability assessment design and application within academia, with the hopes of adding a more human dimension through interviews. The benefits of this project will also be a greater understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Northwest Territories' assessment process, highlighted through a sustainability assessment framework. This understanding will incorporate participant's perspectives to provide a more complete picture of how the assessment process functions and is perceived by those most involved and impacted. Finally, this project will also help to highlight some of the long-term legacy impacts associated with mining that pose a challenge to sustainability in the mining industry. There is a possibility of publication once complete, as well as written submissions to local news/media outlets upon acceptance of the final draft. The PI plans on maintaining two-way knowledge exchange during and after the interviews, in order to provide findings and conclusions from my research and incorporate further feedback from interviewees. The final research paper will be distributed to all participants and organizations. In addition, a report will be submitted to Aurora Research Institute as well as the Northern Scientific Training Program, and follow up communication or presentations will be available to interview participants or interested parties. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from December 14, 2016 to December 31, 2016.