Mining and Community Engagement in Chile, by Steve Fisher

Community Works was very pleased to work with InnovacionAL (www.innovacional.com) to develop and present a seminar at the Alberto Hurtado University on 5^th March 2015. The theme was Mining and Community Engagement. As well as the university, the event was supported by the Ministry of Mining of the Government of Chile and Casa de la Paz, an NGO in Chile with interests in improving the interaction between mining companies, communities and stakeholders.  

Yanina Kowszyk, Director of InnovacionAL introducing
 Steve Fisher from Community Works

For the first hour, I presented materials on the subject drawn from Australian experiences, including case studies from projects in which Community Works has been involved, as well as the Aboriginal Community Research network of Ninti One Ltd (www.nintione.com.au) and others. The IAP2 Framework is a useful tool for discussion of the subject, as is the generational framework developed by Kemp and Boele and adopted as part of the best practice manuals promoted by the Australian Government Department of Industry. I presented both frameworks, together with other methods and approaches.

When working with the Queensland University of Technology on training programs for mining professionals, I have always found it useful to separate community engagement into strategic and transactional levels. Strategic refers to the choice of overall frameworks for how to work effectively with communities, such as partnership agreements. Transactional work refers to the day-to-day interactions between community residents or members and outsider professionals from companies, government agencies and NGOs. Facilitation skills are a part of these processes and the seminar discussed them in some detail. Clearly an underlying principle is the need to generate rapport and respect in both directions.

Steve Fisher at Alberto Hurtado University, during the seminar
Mining and Communities organised by InnovacionAL

Participants at the event were very active in their comments and questions. Topics that arose included processes for managing and reducing conflict, a discussion of the pressures that bear on communities in making decisions on whether to accept mining activity, incentives for their participation and attitudes of wider society to rural communities. 

We have been delighted to work with the team at InnovacionAL. Their energy, practical skills and local knowledge makes for a productive partnership. We are looking forward to developing projects on which the two organisations can collaborate in the future.  

Steve Fisher

March 2015