Digging in the dark : reviewing international literature to address impending policy challenges for Swedish and Finnish mining

The mining industries of Sweden and Finland currently face several policy issues around investment, stakeholder involvement,and sustainability. Since the two countries garnered significant attention during the mining boom, research from a social sciencesperspective grew significantly. One approach to understanding how these issues in Sweden and Finland compare to internationalexamples is through an analysis of the policy development framework. Looking at three factors—institutions, actors, andprocess—gives a broad overview of the imminent challenges in both Sweden and Finland and potential lessons from existingresearch that point to similar problems and their solutions. As the mining operations continue to sit at the center of differentvalues, capable policy is required