Rauno Sairinen is professor of environmental policy at the University of Eastern Finland He has been affiliated as a Honorary Professor with the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) at the University of Queensland in Australia. During 2011-2016 he has been co-chair of the Social Impact Assessment section of the IAIA International Association of Impact Assessment. During 2007-2010 he worked as a professor of social-scientific environmental research in the University of Joensuu and during 1999–2007 as a research director at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the Helsinki University of Technology. His major research themes concerned environmental governance and natural resource policy, environmental policy instruments, mining policy, social impact assessment, urban planning and participation.

Olga Sidorenko holds her Master’s degree in Environmental policy and law from University of Eastern Finland. Her research focuses on the strengthening of the mining development through the capacity building. Her thematic interests include various aspects of social acceptance of mining. She has been involved in UEF project on sustainable mining governance in Central Asia.