Environmental remediation of polluted sites in developing communities often faces difficulties due to the misalignment of project objectives with the needs and interests of local communities, establishment of unrealistic expectations for the outcome of the project, and failure to account for the available resources in the community itself. Remediation decisions favor technical data and technical solutions as the main means of determining remediation options, requiring significant investment and local capacity that are often not found in developing communities. Often these systems fail to account for the social aspects in environmental management and remediation. In contrast, new approaches in local knowledge-based solutions focus on pre-existing environmental management initiatives to establish objectives that are meaningful to the community itself. “Positive deviance” – or the idea that there are solutions already in communities that are successful at addressing challenges despite the barriers that a community faces – are often overlooked during project design and implementation. Identifying examples of positive deviance and working with community members who are well versed in local challenges, available resources, and local capacity presents opportunities for community members to establish project objectives and provides the foundation for future environmental management projects in the area. We present a case study of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Andes municipality, Antioquia, Colombia and local initiatives to overcome community-identified environmental pollutants. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, surveys, and site visits, we identified community perception of environmental pollutants, management techniques for mining waste, and grassroots initiatives that were locally developed to address them. Through key communication and interaction between innovators with identified positive deviance projects, technical experts, and other miners facing similar challenges, innovative projects that account for the social, political, and economic realities of a developing community can become widespread, leading to improved environmental and social conditions.

由于项目目标与当地社区的需求和利益不一致，对项目结果的期望不切实际，以及未能考虑社区本身的可用资源，发展中社区污染场地的环境修复往往面临困难. 修复决策倾向于将技术数据和技术解决方案作为确定修复选项的主要手段，需要大量投资和当地能力，而这在发展中社区中通常是找不到的。通常，这些系统未能考虑到环境管理和修复中的社会因素。相比之下，基于本地知识的解决方案的新方法侧重于预先存在的环境管理举措，以建立对社区本身有意义的目标。在项目设计和实施过程中，“积极偏差”——或者认为社区中已有解决方案能够成功应对挑战，尽管社区面临障碍的想法经常被忽视。识别积极偏差的例子并与精通当地挑战、可用资源和当地能力的社区成员合作，为社区成员提供了建立项目目标的机会，并为该地区未来的环境管理项目奠定了基础。我们介绍了安蒂奥基亚安第斯山脉的手工和小规模采金业 (ASGM) 的案例研究，哥伦比亚和地方倡议克服社区确定的环境污染物。通过一系列半结构化访谈、调查和实地考察，我们确定了社区对环境污染物的看法、采矿废物管理技术以及当地为解决这些问题而制定的草根倡议。通过与确定的积极偏差项目的创新者、技术专家和其他面临类似挑战的矿工之间的重要沟通和互动，考虑到发展中社区的社会、政治和经济现实的创新项目可以广泛传播，从而改善环境和社会使适应。我们确定了社区对环境污染物的看法、采矿废物的管理技术以及当地为解决这些问题而制定的草根倡议。通过与确定的积极偏差项目的创新者、技术专家和其他面临类似挑战的矿工之间的重要沟通和互动，考虑到发展中社区的社会、政治和经济现实的创新项目可以广泛传播，从而改善环境和社会使适应。我们确定了社区对环境污染物的看法、采矿废物的管理技术以及当地为解决这些问题而制定的草根倡议。通过与确定的积极偏差项目的创新者、技术专家和其他面临类似挑战的矿工之间的重要沟通和互动，考虑到发展中社区的社会、政治和经济现实的创新项目可以广泛传播，从而改善环境和社会使适应。