Company-initiated online deliberation in natural resource management; understanding outcomes of a graphite mine development in the arctic

As the need for natural resources in the sustainable transition continues to increase, and companies are taking on more responsibility as societal actors in difficult policy areas the need for constructive communication between companies and the civic population increases. Consultation and dialogue between stakeholders are seen as common tool to enhance perceived legitimacy, on for instance natural resource management (NRM), which has resulted in a “deliberative turn”, drawing on deliberative democracy theory. At the same time, current consultation processers in the mining sector are critiqued for lacking in quality and not generating trust. Meanwhile, digital platforms have created new spheres, where communication and deliberation on societal issues are organically unfolding online. This idea of a digital public sphere became the theoretical steppingstone for developing the field of online deliberation, drawing on deliberative theory and its’ normative core, and mainly focusing on testing digital platform features’ effects on deliberative quality. In this empirically explorative case-study, we focus on the deliberative process of a company-initiated deliberation between stakeholders, on a digital platform regarding a graphite deposit and mine development in the north of Sweden - where attitudes on mining are divided. The questions on the platform are wide, ranging from environmental impacts of the graphite mine, housing, and societal development, to indigenous rights. This article aims to explore the links between the context of the case, platform design, deliberative quality and outcomes with the overarching research question: what are the outcomes of deliberative processes between companies and stakeholders online in contested NRM, and how can we understand them? While deliberative processes are often initiated by public institutions, closely orchestrated for ideal settings and participatory selection, open and public deliberations initiated by companies in real-life cases - are rare. This article will contribute to the theoretical discussion on online deliberation as an example of company-initiated deliberation in a non-ideal setting and serves as an empirical example of stakeholder deliberation in the market spectrum of governance regarding contested NRM. The methodology is mixed, including semi structured interview’s pre- and post- deliberation with stakeholders and surveys with participants to be analyzed quantitatively post-deliberation. Data will also be collected from the online platform to measure deliberative quality parallel to interview data.