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Consultation Process
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Professional Groups
The history of the project goes back to 2008 and the East Iceland Sustainability Initiative was the model for it. The project mostly had the same goals and role as the one in the East, to support the ideology of sustainable development and consider the environment, economy and social aspects in projects planned in the municipalities in Þingeyjarsýsla. The ideology is based on the agreements of the UN, international agreements and the policies of Icelandic authorities on sustainable development. What separates those two projects from others on sustainability is the cooperation with the surrounding society and stakeholders.
Landsvirkjun, Landsnet and Alcoa initiated the project but at that time the companies were preparing the power stations, transmission lines and aluminium processing in Bakki. The project was supposed to monitor the influence of the planned big businesses and power plants on the community, environment and the economy along with being a research forum for sustainable development in the area. When changes occurred in the plans of developing aluminium in Bakki the project was slowed down and it was put on hold in 2012. At the end of 2014 the basis of a new steering group was made and the next steps were to reactivate the project.
Húsavík Academic Center (HAC) was assigned to implement a proposition for a project plan, propose an organisation chart, define roles for the project's parties and determine the cost of running it. The project went slowly to begin with. The data already accumulated was analysed after two big consultative meetings with the public and stakeholders in 2008 and 2009. Those suggestions for indices were categorised into three main pillars of sustainable development. In addition, other indices were combined to decrease the number of criteria. The indices were then filtered where they were evaluated on the basis of whether they were appropriate, simple, reliable and whether the data in the indices was accessible. After this there was another consultation with the public and stakeholders. After that the indices were ready.
At the beginning of the project in 2008, extensive consultation was held with residents and stakeholders on the formulation of the project's indicators. Two meetings were held, one in Húsavík and the other in Reykjahlíð, where stakeholders and residents were invited to influence who would be the project's indicators. In 2016, when the results of this consultation were completed, the second part of the consultation process began. It was decided to consult with experts in the field of each category of sustainability. The roles of professional groups were defined and experts in each field were called to a consultation meeting in Laugar in Reykjadalur.
The role of professional groups was to:
Criticize the choice of indicators.
Criticize the presentation of indicators.
Criticize the classification of indicators.
Make a proposal for new indicators.
Provide guidance on data collection.
Make a proposal for pulse measurements.
At the consultation meeting held at Seigla - The Center for Creativity, the professional groups received a presentation on the project, along with a discussion of sustainability measurements, stock and flow indicators. After the presentations, they worked to review the indicators and made suggestions for changes.
After consulting with the professional groups, a proposal for 44 indicators was presented, along with comments on the measurements. Once the proposal and the comments of the professional groups had been worked on, the next step in the project's consultation process began.
Since young people in the area have not participated much in open meetings on employment issues, Laugar High School and Húsavík High School were visited. The students at the schools received a presentation on the project and were subsequently divided into 3 groups, each of which reviewed one category of indicators and made comments on the indicators and their measurements.
Following the consultation with the young people, the public and stakeholders were again invited to the table. Two meetings were held to present the project and its status. After the presentations, the meeting attendees were divided into groups that were asked the following questions:
What are your expectations of the changes that are coming due to industrial development, the Þeistareykir hydroelectric power plant and increased tourism activity?
What are your concerns about the changes that are coming due to industrial development, the Þeistareykir hydroelectric power plant and increased tourism activity?
Are there any metrics that capture these expectations and concerns? If not, which metrics need to be added?
Do any metrics need to be changed or are any metrics unnecessary?
This consultation with the public and stakeholders resulted in useful suggestions for the metrics as well as suggestions for metrics that could be added and which, in the opinion of the meeting attendees, were unnecessary.
The comments made during the consultation process were processed, the indicators were improved and their number was further reduced. Today, there are 20 indicators and 37 metrics used for them.
Professional groups were appointed as following:
Community group
Directorate of Health and The Social Science Research Institute did not accept the offer of appointing someone for the professional group.
Environmental group
The University of Iceland's Research Centre in Húsavík appointed someone for the group but that individual could not make the meeting.
Economy group
The University of Iceland's Research Centre in Húsavík did not appoint someone for the group but a member of staff was appointed by the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre.