Participatory Environmental Monitoring in Mining Contexts: A Practitioner Checklist to Start PEM
Introduction
Participatory Environmental Monitoring (PEM) can be described as a collaborative process that offers a dialogue space for the local community impacted by mining, government agencies that oversee mining, and in some cases the mining companies themselves. In this process, Participatory Environmental Monitoring is used to address the community’s concerns about mining and to better prevent or limit environmental damage. With PEM, disputes around the management of natural resources can be navigated earlier and more peacefully.
The Environmental Governance Programme (EGP), initiated in 2014, has focused on Participatory Environmental Monitoring (PEM) as a tool to facilitate collective community participation and action in mining governance almost since the start. This Checklist is based on the Guide “Participatory Environmental Monitoring in Mining Contexts: A Practitioner Guide with Country Experiences from the Environmental Governance Programme.” The Guide and Checklist have been shaped by the first-hand experiences of EGP practitioners. Both products are designed to assist mining governance authorities and regulators, mining companies and local communities in setting up and implementing successful PEM initiatives. This process can support communities to engage more effectively in the environmental governance of mining, including in settings where PEM has not yet been tested.
| Step 1: Convene and organize |
| PEM efforts usually do not start spontaneously; someone must convene them. The, the participating parties prepare themselves by understanding the regulatory context and assessing the mining operations of concern. In addition, the PEM team is organized. By PEM team, we refer to everyone that is participating in the design and implementation of the initiative. This step can also be used to acknowledge specific challenges in the communities where PEM will be implemented, such as the participation of disadvantaged groups. |
| Step 2: Prioritize and design |
| The participating parties agree on a common purpose for what they want to achieve during the PEM effort. Consequently, they design the PEM initiative by defining what will be monitored, why, when and where, by whom and with which tools |
| Step 3: Monitor and communicate |
| This step reflects the implementation of the designed monitoring activities are implemented. During implementation, equipment will be used to perform specific activities, like taking samples or storing monitoring results. The communication of the process and its results is also included here. |
| Step 4: Act and follow-up |
| After most of the monitoring is done, it is time to influence change if needed. Change can be made to solve a particular social or environmental problem that was identified or to improve the monitoring process.. |
| Pillar 1: Governance |
| The process for decision-making, leadership, budget allocation, selection of participating members, their composition in terms of gender and age, and roles. Relationships with other institutions, including companies, government and universities. The history of the community and the region, the culture, the perceptions that people have about their situation, their relationship with nature, the local economic context, way of life and the legal framework. |
| Pillar 2: Environment |
| The physical geography of the region. The water quality and quantity, and environmental situation of soil and air. Ecosystems, flora and fauna present in the area and their current status. The environmental monitoring procedures that are used during PEM efforts. |
| Pillar 3: Learning |
| Technical skills and knowledge, communication and leadership skills, as well as the traditional and local knowledge that participants may have or need. The knowledge generated during PEM efforts through monitoring activities and the results obtained. The reflective practices of the PEM team that learns from its own experiences, successes and failures. |
| Pillar 4: Gender |
| Issues affecting the equity between men and, women and other identities. Prevailing inequalities that limit the diversity of participation in monitoring initiatives as well as the relevancy of the results obtained. Ways to make PEM more transformative and increase its impact on community well-being. |
Executed by community members
Here, the community itself carries out the monitoring activity. For example, participants from the community are trained to collect environmental samples, which are then sent to a laboratory.
Executed in partnership
This includes all possible institutional arrangements where a particular task or activity is discussed and executed through collaboration between an external entity, such as a mining company, and the community.
Supervised by community members
Here, the tasks are carried out by outsiders (e.g., monitoring specialists contracted by the company or a State agency, in-house company employees or representatives of the State), while the community supervises the results achieved. For example, samples may be taken by experts, but community members keep track of the process and keep the samples in their custody.
Please contact us if you have any questions about the Checklist or if you want to know more about PEM and the Environmental Governance Programme:
Email: egp@swedishepa.se
Web: www.environmentalgovernanceprogramme.org