1. Social sustainability “in the middle of nowhere”? A case study from Salla, Finland MONICA TENNBERG & HANNA LEMPINEN ARCTIC CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF LAPLAND, FINLAND

2. Outline / contents  Background: the case study of Salla  Social sustainability, sustainable communities?  Conducting the case study  Concluding thoughts

3. Salla – ”in the middle of nowhere/everything”  In the middle of nowhere:  Less than 4000 inhabitants  Declining population, employment and livelihoods  Tourism, reindeer herding, forestry  In the middle of everything  Sokli mine plans  Railroad connections to Arctic Ocean  EU-Russia visa free travel talks  NON-indigenous case study!

4. Social sustainabilities, sustainable communities?  Social sustainability (> < sustainable development)  Fuzzy, elusive, understudied, difficult to operationalize…  Aspects and dimensions: equity, participation, democracy, empowernment  Sustainable communities?  Sustainable use of natural resources, diverse economic activities, variety of human resources and strong sense of community  The capacity to cope with change with less radical ways  …or resilience?  Ability to adapt, transform and recover / manouvre change

5. Conducting the case study  Semi-structured interviews with local actors and experts (municipality representatives, border authorities, tourism and other livelihoods, long-time community actives – 10 done)  Situational analysis (Clarke 2003, 2005)  Grounded / multisite data  Aims to “capture and discuss the messy complexities of the situation in their dense relations and permutations” (Clarke, 2005: xxxv)  Maps: situational map, social worlds map, positional map

6. Salla 1: (Ordered) situational map Declining populationForestry in problems Ageing population Strong community feeling Continuity in small businesses Unemployment Bigger than its sizeSeasonality Youth leaving, not returning Nature Locality Reindeer herding in decline Local culture Tourism as the driver of local economy Russia Salla 4000 inhabitants Predators Russian tourists ”centre”of Salla - Sallatunturi - Villages Border (crossings) State 800 000 around Murmansk Government decisions Minister of traffic Northern Sea Route Railway plans (freight State budget Investments Declining (municipal) services State policies and actions EU Sokli mine Health & social service reform Asia Plans for visa freedomTax authorities Kirkenes / Troms / NarvikPublic transport connections PoliceKELA Harbours in Gulf of Bothnia

7. Salla 2: It can go either way Positive spiral: Sokli mine, railway connection, freight and passenger traffic, visa freedom, increasing number of tourists Negative spiral: unemployment, declining population, degrading livelihoods, ageing population, declining services

8. Salla 3: Where are the decisions made? Decided elsewhere State decides (= abandons) Municipality has to have an active role Lack of resources, lack of influence vs. Working together Everyone can make a change “Unfortunately these kind of big decisions [e.g. Sokli mine] are made elsewhere” “if they would only remember that there are people living here in the remote areas…” “…it requires that we from here are actively influencing these things which means we keep these things on the agenda in the newspapers and pay them [parliament, ministries, government] personal visits.” “even a small human being can make a change even if the money would come from elsewhere, these kinds of people are needed and should be encouraged”

9. Conclusions  Local responsibilization over development  Sustainable development > < sustainability / surviving?  Strong local identity – Salla stays whatever happens