Research from the UNE Business School for the Enduring Community Value from Mining (ECVM) Project has had a significant impact in understanding the transition that regional town experiences after a mine closure.

The findings from this project are now being put to meaningful use in an international context.

Dr Boyd Blackwell, Principal Research Leader of the ECVM Project, visited Washington DC in June to attend the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) 2016 conference.

He presented a preliminary comparison between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences with mining in remote Australia and the Sami people and their experiences in sparsely populated areas of Sweden. Fellow presenters in his session presented on indigenous issues from across the globe.

Dr Blackwell also chaired a concurrent session as well as a round-table discussion on ‘Down-Under’ issues affecting Australia with mining, climate change, and regional and remote sustainability featuring prominently.

These three activities in DC have enabled Dr Blackwell to build an international network of contacts with interests in future special sessions on both indigenous wellbeing and ECVM being planned for:

• the Australia and New Zealand Ecological Economics Society conference in Adelaide, in January 2017 and
• the ISEE conference in Mexico City in 2018.

Dr Blackwell is planning to visit remote parts of Sweden later this year meeting with Sami people whom have been affected by mining, joining Professor Dean Carson (Flinders University) in an international comparative study.

This study will draw on the case study analysis done through ECVM in Australia.

For more details on Dr Blackwell’s research visit his staff profile.