Desmond M. Connor
How Does the Exploration Team
Adapt to Different Countries?
Desmond M. Connor
Introduction
When a mining company considers exploring a prospect in a different country, and the exploration geologists have been vaccinated against diseases common over there, what cultural precautions are needed to avoid becoming unwanted visitors? The acceptance of foreigners, and a perhaps foreign activity like mine exploration, can no longer be taken for granted. The Internet is taking images and stories of tailing spills into the most remote areas.
Amongst the 193 countries of the world, there is a wide range of cultural values, but there are also some universal values which occur in every nation. For the survival of social groups, every human system needs to value community, mutual support, loyalty and some kind of procedural justice. These universal values, and others related to them, provide the foundation for the acceptance everywhere of some kind of public consultation as an essential element in the mine development process.
Since many exploration geologists on global assignments are relatively young and perhaps less experienced in the larger world, it is important to provide them before they leave, first, with a general orientation to the country they will soon enter. If it is a large country, with significant regional or provincial differences e.g. Brazil, they will need further briefing on the region or province they will be working in. Finally, they will quickly need to understand the community/ies which they will be living and working near.
A Six-Step Program
Based on a variety of experience, the following six steps will be useful, regardless of the type of political system in place in the target country:
- Six months before entry, have an applied social scientist prepare a national social profile with chapter heads like history, national issues, industries and occupations, organizations and leadership, communication channels, knowledge of and attitudes to the mining industry and exploration, types of publics,and conclusions and recommendations. The objective is to obtain a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the culture and society; use written sources, interviews with former residents, relevant websites and email. On arrival in the national capital, validate this draft with knowledgeable sources and revise it as needed.
- On arrival in the capital, team members should identify occasions when proposals for change have led to public controversy, particularly mining proposals similar to yours. Prepare brief case studies of these with a standard format - situation, objective, chronology of activities, results, lessons learned and conclusion. Obtain data from parties directly involved, knowledgeable observers, media coverage, etc. If some of the sources are accessible before departure, draft the case studies before leaving and validate them on arrival. Use this information in subsequent meetings in the capital (see below).
- Identify some key national politicians, relevant bureaucrats and other appropriate leaders. Explain to them the nature of a program of public consultation and why it seems useful to undertake it in this situation. Make it clear that the process will be transparent and accessible. Remind them of previous cases (from #2 above) when citizens were not informed and involved positively. Identify, explore and deal with any concerns which these politicians, bureaucrats and others may have.
- If there is a significant regional/provincial government and bureaucracy in this country, review the national social profile and revise it as needed to provide a systematic understanding of the region or province. Identify and brief some of their key leaders as in #3 above.
- At the local level, prepare social profiles of each indigenous community during the first month and ensure that your modus operandi and proposed communication techniques are suitable for them. In identifying the various publics for your proposal, treat each separately. e.g. capital city leaders, religious leaders, international NGOs based in the capital city, regional/provincial leaders and the residents of regional towns and local communities. One team member should be assigned primary responsibility for community relations and public consultation.
- Be prepared to work with indigenous groups in ways acceptable to their leadership, formal and informal, while still making information available to all residents and providing a means for individual response. In some cases, local leaders endeavour to control the flow of information to their community in order to more easily manage their constituents.
These steps are recommended to practitioners who are citizens of the country as well as for expatriate practitioners. Subcultural differences can escape the awareness of the former as well as the latter.
Conclusion
This systematic program of cultural orientation, consultation with key leaders and positive community relations at the local level should pay dividends from exploration through the mine development process. The later steps are equally applicable in North America.
Acknowledgements
Reprinted with permission from North American Mining, August/September 1998.
 |
DESMOND M. CONNOR
"Improving the Practice of Public Consultation"
407-5332 Sayward Hill Crescent, Victoria, BC, V8Y 2H8
Voice: 250-658-1323 Fax: 250-658-8110
connor@connor.bc.ca www.connor.bc.ca |
|