A collaboration arena for socially sustainable industry

A few signs with company names on a worn changing booth by the electric light track tell which companies once sponsored the track when it was built. Today, it is non-profit forces together with the now adjacent hotel that is responsible for the maintenance. The municipality pays the electricity bill, despite the fact that another municipal savings requirement of SEK 30 million must be implemented next year. Of the companies on the signs, their presence can only be seen in the form of the power line street that runs right through the forest. Terese Bengard is operations manager for Hela Sverige shall live and it is her own village she describes, Hammarstrand in Jämtland.

- Those who took down the forest are no longer there. They are not part of society, but took what was needed and disappeared. When the wind farms come, it will be the same way, often with the promise that they will provide jobs. But there are few who work there and at the same time pay taxes in the municipality, says Terese Bengard.

With her story, she illustrates how conflicts arise between the local population and industry, reindeer herders and local politicians, developers and authorities, indeed all the parties that may be affected when an industry is to be established.

During two days in September, participants from civil society, academia, business and the public sector gathered for both lectures and workshops at Wood Hotel in Skellefteå.

Finding solutions for all the knots that today are infected conflicts and with a big impact on people's everyday life, is not only a dream for sparsely populated areas advocates and developers, but would also mean big profits for society and its transition towards both green and social sustainability. But to get there, new methods need to be explored that allow all parts of society to get a more positive experience when new industries emerge.

- When we see this large increase in industry in step with the green and digital transformation, we also have to change the perspective of how we start and expand industries, so that society can also transform in a socially sustainable way, says Pontus Westrin, programme manager at Vinnova.

For that reason, Vinnova has taken the initiative for the Collaboration Arena for socially sustainable industry, which took place in October. The purpose of the arena was to allow different parties to meet and, with the help of everyone's perspective, find new ways of handling exploitation processes, preferably long before an issue has developed into a conflict.

Under the auspices of environmental consultants from Ecogain and a panel of researchers, parties from civil society as well as authorities and business advocates were able to conduct workshops based on real industrial establishments, listen to speakers and meet in an equal dialogue. The interactivity was high, as was the commitment of the participants.

- There was both a high level of knowledge and competence in the room and a good arrangement that surprised positively. We work with similar methods, but I will bring a lot with me, comments Terese Bengard.

- A general problem is that many sectors and parts of society do not meet that often and when they do, it is in a debate that may not generate solutions. The collaboration arena was arranged so that everyone could speak and that everyone listened with respect because we had different roles and perspectives. You may not have agreed, but everyone felt heard, which I think you gain a lot from in a process, says Christine von Sydow, expert in social sustainability at Svenskt Näringsliv.

Learn from history

Curt Persson, lecturer in history at Luleå Tekniska Universitet, was one of the speakers and highlighted an important perspective - namely how much we can learn from history. In his story about how LKAB, when it was established around the turn of the last century, worked to build up the community of Kiruna and make it attractive enough for the workforce to want to stay, there are many similarities with today's establishments, says Curt Persson.

- There were above all three factors that are still applicable today. Firstly, good housing was needed for the workforce to remain, so LKAB built housing with affordable rent. The second was skill development both among the staff and among the people in the area, which meant that LKAB invested heavily in the school and education in Kiruna. Finally, they wanted the people who came to settle to have a rich life in their free time, which resulted in Sweden's second popular education movement coming into being precisely in Kiruna, after Stockholm, says Curt Persson.

It was perhaps not always rosy, he is careful to add, but if the then privately owned LKAB had not taken these initiatives, they would never have been able to hang on, he believes.

- One of the most important things you should remember is that the management, CEO and manager were located on site in Kiruna, so that there was continuity in communication, I think that is important if you want to mark that you believe in an effort. There will be no credibility if the owners are far away.

Before, during and after

Social License to Operate, SLO, is a popular term for the relationship between, in this case, mainly the industry and the surrounding society. The concept began to be talked about in a research context already 15 years ago. In other words, it is nothing new that a well-conducted dialogue and proper anchoring work creates greater acceptance in communities for large new establishments. Still, a formalized approach is lacking, notes Pontus Westrin.

- An industry must prove that it protects the environment according to the Environmental Code, but when it comes to ensuring that society accepts what is happening, there is nothing formalized, he says.

However, a solution does not have to be legislation, adds Pontus Westrin, and idea generation by the participants was a central point on the Cooperation Arena's agenda. A number of examples of efforts linked to the theme could be discussed. Such as tailoring solutions for biodiversity at an industrial establishment – with, for example, insect hotels or artificial ponds for birds. Or develop methods for ecological compensation to reduce the negative values of an industry's possible impact on the surrounding nature. Or plan for community-developing industry efforts to integrate the business more strongly and build trust in the surrounding community, which could mean anything from school excursions to various civil society efforts. Methods and approaches then need to be available to involved parties who seek guidance on the issues.

-Many companies are asking how they should do it, so we see that there is a need for guidance and a "best practice" with lessons from what worked and why, says Christine von Sydow.

How different forms of consultation between interested parties could look like became a well-discussed area. Why not give the system access to neutral facilitators and other functions whose task it is to ensure that the dialogue between the parties is carried forward?

- A neutral party that has a lot of knowledge about these processes and drives the coordination between municipality, local society and industry. It would be well worth the money in the end, says Terese Bengard.

Another important conclusion among the participants was the importance of commitment both before, during and after the lifetime of the establishment.

- Involve everyone at a very early stage, long before there is any kind of conflict, so that everyone can be part of the journey, states Ylva Tengblad, sustainability manager at the industry organization Svensk Vindenergi.

She points to how Swedish wind power companies have made a great journey over the past 15 years and that they mainly work today with early dialogue, but believes that there may be development potential in the continued anchoring process, after the park is built. Perhaps even during the dismantling and finishing, when new values can be generated locally in the form of jobs in recycling and disposal.

- The focus has so far been on the permit process, the dialogue before construction. Now I am more inspired to look more at how the industry can continue to work with continued anchoring during the park's lifetime, she says.

And even though Samverkansarena 2023 has already been, the work at Vinnova has really only just begun, says Pontus Westrin. The analysis and ideas will be summarized with the help of Ecogain and the research panel, and next year the hope is to gather again, for new conversations, follow-up and new idea generation.

- This is only a first step in developing guidance on how we can work with issues like this. But it must not become too abstract. It is about innovation of concrete and tangible tools that can contribute to maximizing the benefit to society.