Mining and Sustainable Development : Gender, Diversity and Work Conditions in Mining

Swedish mining companies and surrounding mining communities face many challenges when it comes to social sustainable development. For example, a strong mining workplace culture and community identity can create both strong cohesion but also lead to exclusion of certain groups, rejection of new ideas and reinforce traditional, masculine values. Other challenges include recruitment, as well as health and safety in relation to an increased use of contractors and automation of mining. The social dimension is relatively underdeveloped in studies of sustainable development in general and the mining industry in particular. This report reviews research on social sustainable development and mining with a special focus on (1) diversity of lifestyles, (2) gender, and (3) work conditions. Swedish and international research is reviewed and knowledge gaps are identified. All three areas of research can be regarded as relatively mature and they give important contributions to ourunderstanding of social sustainable development in relation to the mining sector even if they not always explicitly refer to it as such. There is a lack of research that links attitudes, policies and activities within companies to their impact on the wider society, and vice versa. Future research should also include the development of methods and indicators for social sustainability relevant for mining.Godkänd; 2014; 20141114 (leab)