Big miners’ community engagement doing more harm than good?

The corporate social responsibility programs of big mining companies in remote towns are often disconnected from community needs, reactive and ad hoc. A study by University of Melbourne researcher Dr Sara Bice has found the big miners' well-intentioned activities can have unforeseen and undesirable consequences.   - "Mining companies are pumping millions of dollars into certain remote towns. But as mining booms, ports expand and exports increase, these communities are facing an identity crisis," said to Dr Bice, from the University's School of Social and Political Sciences.   - "Communities are often given money for infrastructure or projects they don't want or need, while some organizations are becoming dangerously reliant on the miners' money.   - "This raises the question of whether programs to promote 'sustainability' are, themselves, sustainable?" she said. The study, ' No more sun shades, please: Experiences of corporate social responsibility in remote Australian mining communities ', appears in the current edition of the Rural Society Journal.