With the advancement in communication, transportation technology allowing for a dynamic exchange of goods, capital, people, and services there are today an economic interconnectedness influencing the opportunities for people locally.
This also became obvious when I did fieldwork in South Greenland investigating the socio-economic impacts of a recently closed-down goldmine. Local economic development can be highly dependent on the global market but the global actors from the mining companies are also dependent on cooperating with actors locally to adapt to the local conditions and community advice.
The economy for many communities in the Arctic is a mixed cash-subsistence economy where “customary harvesting practices are not only culturally but also economically important locally, although their role varies by region, ethnic group, urban or rural setting, and generation” (Arctic Human Development Report). With the vast abundance of natural resources exploitation of these by large scale industries also play a key role for the labour market and inflow of capital locally for many communities.
To understand the context of the indigenous people and past colonisation is crucial to build a sustainable exploitation of natural resources. One of the lessons learned from the goldmining in South Greenland was the lack of local knowledge regarding building up network among the local labour force, how the weather conditions could look during winter could impact the scale of extraction and how long time it would take to ship replacement items for the technical equipment.
After 9 years with two different international companies having ownership of the goldmine the operation closed in 2013 due to a decrease in the prices of gold. This illustrate the interconnectedness between the global market prices and how it brings social and economic changes locally. Seen from the perspective of key stakeholders in South Greenland the international company operating in the goldmine they didn’t make the most informed decisions regarding the scale of operating the mine.
What inspires me is how the global interconnectedness constantly is changing and the exchange taking place between local and global actors and how they influence each other economically, socially and culturally. To understand these processes makes it easier to plan for the local communities to take advantage of the social network and connectivity of the global economy. I believe these processes should also include social development priorities, revenue stream management of local authorities, and ensuring that resource ownership and stewardship are based on frameworks that support sustainable development, from local community to national levels.
