Featured Projects

Beyond Hot Air is a conversation. It is an international, multi-stakeholder initiative that explores the complex landscape of mineral raw materials supply for the ‘green’ transition. Especially critical raw materials (CRM) are a vital part of current forms of ‘green’ transition strategies and corresponding technologies, such as e-mobility, renewable energy and communication technologies. In Europe’s backyard, mining for critical minerals is thus set to increase.

Trade and investment agreements are key elements of mining projects. In particular, decision to invest in a mining project depends on the existing legal protection provided by bilateral or multilateral investment agreements (BITs). 

Recent research in the MinErAl network has investigated the implications of mining development for Indigenous livelihoods by examining the relationship between Indigenous employment and industrial relations in mining. Especially in contexts where access to waged employment is otherwise limited, access to mining jobs is often understood as the principal benefit that mining development brings to local communities.

In addition to direct effects, mining activities have the potential to indirectly influence the health and well-being of Indigenous communities by modifying the social-ecological determinants of health, i.e., the conditions in which people live. The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of mining activities on Indigenous Peoples and communities’ health and well-being, their cumulative impacts over time, and their integration in Impacts Assessments.

The Northern Sustainable Development Research Chair  and Caribou Ungava were proud to developed this story map project on caribou and land use. This interdisciplinary project originated from the research project called “Mines and Communities”, which was funded by a research partnership grant from Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et Technologie.

Proponents of resource development often cite wage employment as a key benefit that Indigenous communities will receive from participating in resource development based on the assumption that employment is desirable and that job quality is high. The ability of employment to play a role in regional development, however, is jeopardized when few Indigenous workers obtain mining employment and when Indigenous workers are segmented in low-skilled positions.

The work shift system called "fly-in, fly-out" (FIFO) brings important impacts on women and Indigenous employment, work-family balance and indigenous and non-indigenous communities ‘vitality. In fact, women would suffer more importantly the negative impacts of FIFO then men (Joncas, 2015). The Association of women from la Côte-Nord in Quebec, Canada wishes to improve the knowledge and understanding of the impacts of FIFO on communities by conducting focus groups and interviews in communities from the Côte-Nord and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions.

In the sparsely populated northern areas of Australia, Sweden, and Canada, the physical distance between Indigenous communities, governments and companies makes it difficult to adapt mining project agreements as characteristics and interests of each actor change over time. This project will look at the experiences of a variety of northern communities who have been involved in the full life cycle of mining projects.

This project aims to carry out a comparative baseline analysis of the theory and practice of consultation, negotiation of consent (or the absence thereof) and agreements between local/indigenous actors, the state, and industrial companies in the three regions. The purpose of this analysis is to create a common understanding of the main processes that occur in societies throughout the Arctic when extractive industries advance to new indigenous areas.

Created by Christopher Fletcher, professor at Université Laval, this database identifies the different concerns voiced by citizens during the public hearings of about 15 development projects across Canada.

Studies on nickel mining in New Caledonia have mostly focused on how mining activities have been translated into a political issue, Kanak mobilizations to regain control over mining sites and increasing participation in large-scale mining projects. Less attention has been paid to the impacts of these processes on employment, labor organization and the relations between wage labor and livelihoods.