Samhällsengagemang och utveckling inom svensk gruvindustri
En fallstudie på Boliden Mineral AB
Sustainable development has become more and more important over the past years. The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is closely connected to sustainable development and focuses on organizations responsibility towards the society and the environment in which it exists. Companies within the mining industry were among the first to initiate CSR-work due to the fact that they have a great impact at the local community, both socially and environmentally. Today they are still in the forefront of the development of CSR-questions in general, and community involvement and development in particular. Earlier studies made on this area have focused on the strategic level of community involvement and development. Therefore, this study has focused on the practical levels of this work within a Swedish mining company. The purpose of this study was to better understand why the Swedish mining industry works with community involvement and development and how this work can be conducted. Furthermore the study aimed to create an understanding of the factors that may influent the result of this work. The study was conducted at Boliden, a Swedish metal company with their expertise within exploration, mining, smelting and metals recycling. Through a number of interviews with personnel from the different units within the company, information about how the company works with community involvement and development today was gathered. This was analyzed together with information from the previously conducted literature review. The purpose of Boliden?s work with community involvement and development is primarily to contribute to a healthy life environment for the company?s employees and to guarantee recruitment of competent staff in the future. Their work differs a lot between the different units, since they choose how to conduct their work within the units. The analysis showed big differences between Boliden?s work and the literature. The different units had a narrow view of what community involvement for a company can include and how the work can be conducted. For the most part, donations and sponsoring to local sport teams are given. Communication and dialogue with the community is held primarily through consultation meetings. A lot of great examples of community involvement have also been found, for instance supporting initiatives for integration and fairs to encourage the interest for technical subjects among young women. The identified risk factors are primarily about different expectations on responsibility between the community and the company.The suggestions for improvement identified is mostly about expanding Boliden?s view of community involvement by applying models to prioritize and choose projects and through systematically work to measure, follow and improve their daily work. This way, Boliden can develop its work with community involvement and maintain a god contact with the local communities and through this foster a good environment for current, and future, employees.