Participatory Rural Appraisal as a Method for

Community Engagement toward Sustainability in Mining Sector

Rezki Syahrir, Ondos N Saragih.
Abstract

Public Participation Rate, Representativeness, and Quality

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation identied three priority areas to ensure sustainability in mining, one of which is enhance

Public participation and representation rate are essential in public consultation. A high public participation and representation

the participation of stakeholders. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) as

rate will ensure the reliability of data and information addressed in public consultation.

community engagement method in public consultation of the Environmental Impact Assessment by comparing with the

In the PRA, participants involved were 110 people from 6 villages of 5 districts. This number is signicantly higher than

conventional method performance.

conventional method which attended by 21 people from 6 villages of 3 districts. The composition of the participants also obviously

Participation rate was higher in the PRA. Moreover, more than 60% and 9% of the PRA attendee were community and indigenous

contrast where 70, or more than 60% of the PRA attendee were community and indigenous leaders, while in the conventional

leaders, and women respectively, while in the conventional method, village headman, ofcials, and councils dominated the event

method, village headman, ofcials, and councils dominated the event by 11 people, or more than 50% of the participants. The

by more than 50%, but no women represent the group. The PRA succeed to obviously identify that each villages has its own

difference is largely due to the nature of the program, where the PRA organized informally and in the community, whereas the

particular preferences which remain unclear in the conventional method. Thus, the method was effective to increase participation

conventional method took place formally in a government ofce.

of indigenous communities and women, as well as the quality of engagement, which essential to sustainability in mining sector.

Moreover, since public consultation emphasized the importance of representation, therefore in the PRA all groups, either formal

Keywords:

institutions or informal groups, had been involved in the process. As a result, 10 women participated while no one represent the

Participatory Rural Appraisal, Community Engagement, Participation Rate, Indigenous Communities and Women, Sustainability

group in conventional method as they did not have any formal institution recognized by the government. Further details regarding

in Mining

the number as well as the distribution and proportion of the public consultations participants are shown in the Table I and Figure 1.
Table I. Number of Public Consultation Participants.

Sustainable Mining: Concept and Measures

Number of Participants

implement sustainability to an activity that it's very nature against the sustainable development characteristic as mining

Subdistrict Head and Officials

Village Headman, Officials, and Council
Community and Indigenous Leaders
Women
Total

operations characterized by removing without replacing, having major impacts on the local environment, and on the communities

Source: IISM (2014, data processed)

How to apply sustainability concept in mining as the project will eventually be closed due to its non-renewable resources? How to

around the mines themselves?

(the guardian, 2012). These two basic problems are mostly discussed in sustainability

Method
Conventional
9
11
1
0
21

PRA
3
27
70
10
110

Participation and representation rates and distribution will eventually dene the resulting comments and input. In the PRA, issues

discussions in mining sector.

related to the bauxite mining can be obviously identied: labor issues, improvement of both physical and social infrastructure,

The application of sustainable development to the mining industry does not mean to make one mine after another, but to see that

transparency, engagement of indigenous institutions, environmental impact concerns and favorable compensation to

sector as a whole contributes to human welfare beings and well-being today without reducing the potential for future generations

landowners, and more specically, each villages has its own particular preferences. This understanding will signicantly help the

to do the same (MMSD, 2002). Thus, the sustainability focuses on the efforts to maximize the benets of mining projects while in

mining rm to effectively engage with the communities in the future.

the same time to improve the environmental and social sustainability, by emphasizing the optimization of positive impacts with

However, participants of the conventional method were relatively homogeneous and dominated by the representatives of the

the concern to the integration of economic, social and environmental pillars (the triple bottom line in sustainable development).

formal institutions. As a result, the main concern were to legal license and administrative issues, while topics on infrastructure

Johannesburg Plan of Implementation identied three priority areas to ensure sustainability in mining sector, one of which is

and social problems less considered otherwise and specic intentions of villages remain unclear. Furthermore, the comparison

enhance the participation of stakeholders, including local and indigenous communities and women. The quality of the community

of concern level of main issues related to mining activities between PRA and Conventional Method are presented in gure 2

Conventional

PRA

engagement as well is important as it will inuence future relationship of mining and societies. Since minerals industry concerns
that its future is largely determined by their achievement on sustainable development, mining operation therefore should meet

9,09%

2,73%

4,76%

social expectations and share the responsibilities with government and stakeholders. Most importantly, the process should be
24,55%

performed from the early stages to lead company gain social license to operate.
This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) as a method of community engagement in

42,86%

52,38%

63,64%

public consultation during the mining Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process of mining. It is evaluated by comparing
Subdistrict Head and Ofcials
Community and Indigenous Leaders

the participation and representativeness rates, as well feedbacks of two different methods: the PRA and which in this paper is
called conventional method that normally used in Indonesia's minerals sector. The PRA was conducted in West Kalimantan

Village Headman, Ofcials, and Council

Women

Figure 1. Distribution and Proportion of Public Consultation Participants. Source: IISM (2014, data processed)

Province in 2014, and the conventional method in South Sumatera Province in 2012.

MAIN ISSUES RELATED TO THE MINING ACTIVITIES

LEVEL OF CONCERN
5

Community Engagement and Sustainability

Community engagement is a process of involving community in problem solving or decision making, and uses their feedbacks to

achieve benecial solutions. It allows companies to demonstrate their social responsibility and awareness against the
1

environmental impact problems. An effective community engagement may lead mining rms to improve their social legitimacy,
0

credibility and generate trust from stakeholders which is critical to a sustainable resources industry.

Employment Improvement of Engagement of Enviromental

Land
Opportunity for
Public
Communities Impact Concern Compensation
Local People
Infrastructure and Indigenous
and Facilities
Insitution

PRA

PRA, a Method of Community Engagement in EIAs Public Consultation of Mining Project

Description:
5: Very High

4: High

Legal License
and
Administrative
Process

Others

ISSUES

Conventional
3: Medium

2: Low

1: Very Low

Figure 2. Main Issues Related to the Mining Activities Addressed in Public Consultations. Source: IISM (2014, data processed).
Public consultation is a part of EIAs to reveal new information, improve understanding and enable better choices to be made.
Without a proper consultation, legitimate issues may not be heard, leading to conict and unsustainability (FAO, n.d).
In Indonesia, the public consultation in EIAs process is generally facilitated by the government who purposely invite participants.
Formally took place in government ofce, the event tends to be one-way communication where mining company describes its
project plan and participants provide feedbacks and comments.
However, IISM considered this conventional method failed to engage the public more deeply. The method, according to
experiences, does not recognize informal organizations, such as indigenous institutions and women group, which are vital in
rural communities. Therefore, IISM encouraged a different approach, the PRA, to the EIA public consultation of bauxite mining

Apart from the normative topic regarding employment opportunities for local people, the ndings show that the public
consultations participants led their highest concern to different issues. In the PRA, the public argued that community and
indigenous people engagement is essential in future interaction to avoid a serious social problem, whereas in the conventional
method, the participants emphasized the importance of the rm's legal license.
However, the real challenge of many operating mines is mostly less associated with legal license. In fact, as a mine commence,
social issue tends to emerging more. An effective community engagement may lead the company to appropriately deal with the
issue, and as a result, to earn and maintain its social license. Understanding this, the application of PRA in the public consultation
had helped the company to identify a legitimate issue that was neglected in the conventional method.

project in Landak Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.

The PRA is a community engagement method based on empowerment principle. It is an approach of learning rural life and

Lessons Learned

conditions from, with and by rural people, which allows them to share, enrich, and analyze their own knowledge of their own live,
as well as to develop collective plans and actions. It contains some features which appropriate for rural communities' consultation
namely iterative, innovative, interactive, informal, and in the community.
The public consultation was serially conducted in six villages which expected to receive direct impact from the mine. Participants
engaged in: (1) village mappings; (2) agriculture, plantations, farms and indigenous seasonal calendar and Venn Diagrams
constructions; (3) livelihood and local values analysis related to the proposed project.

Even though there are no clear rules about how to perform public consultation, it is important that the process remains innovative
and exible. The use of PRA illustrated that a serious community engagement will result more reliable inputs to the mining rm.
Compared with the conventional method, the PRA delivered understandable identication of the environment characteristics,
local and indigenous community values and aspirations to the project. The method was effective to increase public participation
and representativeness rate of particularly indigenous communities and women, as well as to address the legitimate issues that
may prevent the mining rm from having conict in the future. This may eventually lead to the development of sustainability in
Indonesian mining sector.

REFERENCES
IISM. (2014). Public Consultation Report of Bauxite Mining EIA Project. Unpublished manuscript.
MMSD Project. (2012). Breaking New Ground. International Institute for Environment and Development and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. UK.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/v8350e/v8350e06.htm#public participation Retrieved August 13, 2014
http://www.sacome.org.au/policy-and-advocacy/environment-a-social/community-engagement.html Retrieved August 13, 2014
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=230 Retrieved January 13, 2014.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/responsible-mining-live-discussion Retrieved January 15, 2014.

Rezki Syahrir
Indonesian Institute for Sustainable Mining | Jl. Kaliurang KM 13, Perum Griya Perwita Wisata - Kantil 5 | Besi, Ngaglik, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia | (+62 274) 895059 | rezkisyahrir@iism.or.id | IMRE Alumni Seminar "Sustainability in Business Organizations" | October 23, 2014
www.iism.or.id