PLANS FOR CLOSING A RAILWAY AND OPENING A MINE – TWO OPPOSED MOVEMENTS IN NORTHERN FINLAND

Jarmo Rusanen and Ossi Kotavaara, University of Oulu, Finland

Northern Finland (NF) is located in a very remote corner of the European Union. Typical features of NF are very sparse population, long distances between communities, low income levels, and a declining, ageing population. Local social movements are influencing the region’s economic possibilities. In 2006, a group of citizens in the city of Kemijärvi, about 100 kilometers east of the Arctic Circle in NF, succeeded in interrupting plans by a Finnish railway company, VR-group, to end the only night train connection between Helsinki and Kemijärvi. In 2008, company perspectives on rail service in NF appear to be changing and now include plans for funding electrification of the railway to Kemijärvi in response to greater tourism flows, possible new mines, and to a lesser degree, the wants of local citizens. Opening new mines often arouses lots of public opposition, but this does not seem to be happening in NF. On the contrary, public opinion, newspaper articles, and politicians seem mostly to support development of new mines. Opposition to new mines is coming mainly from only a few individuals and from tourism organizations which have expressed concerns about possible adverse impacts of locating new mines too close to tourism resorts.