Today saw the launch of a new short course, "Community Expectations for Sustainable Development in Natural Resource Development Projects," being offered by the graduate program.
The intensive one-week course is aimed at introducing students to the very real issue of how natural resource development projects can be undertaken with the acceptance of the local community in which the work is being done. The course is being taught by two well-known figures in this area, Luke Danielson and Cecilia Dalupan, both attorneys and principals at the
Sustainable Development Resources Group.
Mr. Danielson, who was the project director of the seminal report
"Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development," published by the
International Institute for Environment and Development, began today's session by saying that the "number one issue in the world today in terms of natural resources development is community resistance." In his mind, if a community is against a project the project will not be worth pursuing.
He pointed to the fact that despite what one might think about mining copper, for instance, the developed world relies heavily on copper as an electrical conductor. In the U.S. there are 400 pounds of copper per capita while in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia the amount is less than one pound per capita. And yet, "you see the very real difference that electrification can make to people."
However, with a lack of copper, electrification is not possible. "If we were to get enough copper to people living on $1 a day so they could have a basic minimum amount of electricity, do we have enough copper? The answer is certainly no," he said, thus making the point that the development of additional copper resources is a must if the world is to spread the benefits of electrification to those in poor countries. In summary he said, "It's really hard to argue we don't need more copper."
He also pointed out that the information revolution has altered the relationship between firms doing mining and the communities in which the mining takes place. "If people are unhappy now with a project, we learn about it in real time. So many communities are now 'empowered' through the Internet to explain their side of the story," he said.
In summary, Mr. Danielson noted that the developed world's firms "profoundly affect" the communities in which they operate and that the communities where they operate can profoundly affect these same firms.
As the week evolves, Ms. Dalupan will present on various topics including "Indigenous and Traditional Cultures" and "Indigenous People and Ancestral Land."
The course will also involve a series of "guest lecturers" who will comment on various aspects of the underlying issues.
This course represents another example of how the College of Law curriculum reflects the very real -- and often vexing -- issues that are at the heart of natural resources development. On one hand, as Mr. Danielson so clearly explained, there is a crying need for various types of minerals if living and economic conditions in the developing world are to improve. On the other hand, as he also pointed out, major development projects can disrupt and even cause the disappearance of some communities.
As Mr. Danielson and Ms. Dalupan set out in the syllabus to the course, the stakes could not be higher:
Through much of human history, we were not overly concerned about whether natural resource development was good for local populations, or whether they liked it. Indeed, in some places and times, mining was done by conquered people forced into slavery. The fundamental issues in the industry were geological (finding minerals, timber or oil; and gas), or in the case of dam development, finding good hydroelectric sites; engineering (learning the physical processes to produce and obtain the resources efficiently) and processing (finding more useful products and more diverse and creative ways to use resources). The social, cultural, and environmental dimensions, and the local economic impact, were in the back seat, and whether local people felt they were receiving benefits was rarely considered an issue.
By contrast, we are now at a point where local opinion is extremely important. Whether local people accept and want natural resource development is at the top of the list of issues in the natural resource industries. Our growing world population and the demand for a higher standard of living have created an unprecedented demand for materials and energy. The different avenues of communication in this Internet age make it more and more possible for local developments, voices, and stories to reach a wider and even global audience, which has profoundly changed the way development occurs.
At the same time, the increasing number of people in the world makes it harder to find places that minerals and energy can be produced in the “wide open spaces,” and are forcing us to produce natural resources as more immediate neighbors to local communities.
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reports that green technology and global sustainability are two career paths that look particularly promising.
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