Balancing Act: Coexisting Land Uses in Central Lapland During the Green Transition

Tanja Joona, Juha Joona, Tom Hale, Roman Sidortsov, Saleem Ali

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

This article focuses on the challenges faced by Central and Eastern Lapland in Finland during the era of the green transition, where the shift from fossil fuels to renewables increases the demand for mining minerals and renewable energy. Central Lapland is considered Finland's mining region, home to several active mines, with new deposits being discovered continuously. Land use in the area is particularly challenging due to the presence of wind farms, its role as a key tourism destination (e.g., Pyhätunturi and Luosto), extensive forestry activities, and the area's critical grazing lands for reindeer herding (notably in the reindeer herding districts, including Sattasniemi Reindeer Herding Cooperative). There has been extensive research in Finland on land use issues, mining, and particularly its social acceptability. The mining zone of Central Lapland has provided an excellent case study area, which has been the subject of much investigation. However, the focus of this article is on the justice dimension of economic development associated with the green transition—a topic that has been studied very little or not at all. The concept of justice provides the theoretical framework for this article, aiming to examine how the benefits, drawbacks, and risks of various land use projects are distributed. A specific issue in Finnish Lapland is the ancestral rights of the indigenous Sámi people to lands and waters, which remain unrecognized.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages25
JournalThe Extractive Industries and Society
Publication statusIn preparation - 1 Jan 2025
MoEC publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Citation for this output