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Indigenous Community Consultation in the Environmental Institutionality in Chile: the Consequences for Mining and for the Collas indigenous communities in the Atacama Region

Authors

  • Jessica Aracelí Barría Meneses Cedrem Consultores, Santiago, Chile.
No. 57 (2019)
https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5370.2019.53490

Abstract

This work considers environmental governance concepts applied to the indigenous consultation process in the Chilean environmental evaluation system (SEIA). The consequences of the inclusion of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (International Labour Organizatio-ILO 169) to the EIA are evaluated through several case studies of interaction between mining industry and the Colla indigenous communities in Atacama. Alternative impact evaluation governance models have been analyzed through quantitative analysis, exploratory interviews and revision of judicial and environmental documents, which included collaborative and flexible processes to the solution of common problems between stakeholders. The analysis describes the process that has led to the indictment of mining investment projects by Indigenous communities between 2008-2018. The results unveil a consultative process with unclear goals, lack of transparency, and centrally designed, without considering cultural, temporal, and linguistically characteristics of the Indigenous communities. The consultation process has structural and resource limitations. The latter is associated principally to budget restrictions and minor participation of professionals in the evaluation process. The structural limitations are expressed through communicational, political, and conceptual differences between stakeholders. These differences act as barriers that prevent an efficient role of the state of Chile with private companies and Indigenous communities, increasing the uncertainty of private investors and increasing the historical distrust of the Indigenous communities.

Keywords:

Collaborative governance, Collas Indigenous community, environmental governance, Indigenous consultation, mining projects

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How to Cite
Barría Meneses, J. A. (2019). Indigenous Community Consultation in the Environmental Institutionality in Chile: the Consequences for Mining and for the Collas indigenous communities in the Atacama Region. Investigaciones Geográficas, (57). https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5370.2019.53490
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Investigaciones Geográficas
Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo
Universidad de Chile
DATOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Dirección de Servicios de Información y Bibliotecas (SISIB)