Land Use Policy 57 (2016) 444–458 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Land Use Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol A social multi-criteria evaluation approach to assess extractive and non-extractive scenarios in Ecuador: Intag case study Mariana Walter b,c,* , Sara Latorre Tomás a,b , Giuseppe Munda d , Carlos Larrea e a Departamento de Estudios Organizacionales y Desarrollo Humano, Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador b Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain c International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, P.O. Box 29776, 2502 LP The Hague, The Netherlands d Department of Economics and Economic History, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain e Andean University Simon Bolivar, Toledo N2280, Quito, Ecuador a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 2 April 2014 Received in revised form 23 May 2016 Accepted 27 May 2016 Keywords: Copper mining Environmental justice Local scenarios Participation Social multi-criteria evaluation Transparency Uncertainty a b s t r a c t The expansion of the mining extraction frontier in Latin America is fomenting a growing number of con- flicts where contrasting views regarding the economic, environmental, social and cultural implications of developing mining activities are deployed by affected communities, governments and mining com- panies. Hegemonic discourses led by governments stress the contribution of extractive activities to the overall national interest de-legitimating critical views and the concerns of local actors. This paper explores the potential of social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) approaches to structure and assess the multi-dimensional implications of developing extractive and non-extractive local scenarios according to the criteria that are relevant to local inhabitants. We claim that SMCE allows to make more visible scales, social values and uncertainties that are discounted by hegemonic discourses in the mining debate that focus almost exclusively on national economic results. We present and discuss the application of this framework to the current copper mining conflict in Intag (Ecuador). © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since the 2000s, Latin America (LA) is the main ore min- ing investment destination of the world (Ericsson and Larsson, 2013). The expansion of mining activities is promoting a growing number of conflicts that underlie contrasting values and inter- ests regarding the (local and national) economic, environmental, social and cultural implications of developing extractive activities (Bebbington et al., 2008; Bebbington, 2012; Urkidi and Walter, 2011; Muradian et al., 2012; Latorre et al., 2015a). The sup- port to extractive activities is shared by most LA governments, transcending ideological labels, under a common discourse that ties mining activities to national economic wellbeing (Bebbington and Bebbington Humphreys, 2011; Bebbington, 2012). LA govern- ments are establishing a discourse that stresses the national scale, pecuniary criteria and technological solutions to mitigate envi- ronmental impacts. Moreover, critical voices and local concerns * Corresponding author at: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain. E-mail addresses: Marianawalter2002@gmail.com, mariana.walter@uab.cat (M. Walter), sara.latorre.tomas@gmail.com (S. Latorre Tomás), Giuseppe.munda@uab.es (G. Munda), clarrea@uasb.edu.ec (C. Larrea). are delegitimized and criminalized closing down social debate on the economic, social and environmental implications, at different scales, of developing mining activities (Saavedra, 2013; Latorre et al., 2015a). The case of Ecuador is an example of the trends mentioned above for LA. With the arrival of the new elected president Rafael Correa to power in 2007, this country moved toward a post-neoliberal regime in which extractive industries play a central role. These industries are the main source of revenues for welfare polices. Oil revenues have sustained the Ecuadorian economy since the 1970s. In a context of decreasing oil reserves, large-scale mining activities – which are new in Ecuador – are seen as the substitute for oil. However, the expansion of the oil and metal mining fron- tier – which are high impact activities (Bridge, 2004; Prior et al., 2012) – is overlapping with socially and environmentally sensi- tive areas fomenting conflict (Latorre et al., 2015a). The national government has approached mining contestation through coer- cive actions, criminalization and de-legitimation (Saavedra, 2013; Latorre et al., 2015a). Ecuador has promoted regulatory reforms that increase the state participation in mining activities, through both the cre- ation of a national mining company (ENAMI) and the increase of mining taxes and royalties. Complementarily, these mining legal http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.05.030 0264-8377/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.