May 2002, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Australian Minerals & Energy Environment Foundation (AMEEF)
The Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Australia project was a 15-month process of participatory research and dialogue designed to:
- Identify the means by which the minerals sector could best contribute to society’s transition to sustainable development,
- Build trust and understanding between stakeholders, and
- Begin to defi ne a vision for future minerals development.
Facing the Future reports on the experience and outcomes of this process. It recommends specific actions to enhance the minerals sector’s contribution to Australia’s sustainable development.
MMSD Australia brought together people from the minerals industry, federal and state governments, non-governmental organisations, labour unions and indigenous representative groups. It provided a forum for the expression of their diverse perspectives; respected their rights and views; and encouraged them to work together to explore potential solutions to commonly recognised problems.
Multi-stakeholder engagement was the project’s defining operational strategy. It is also key to promoting the minerals sector’s contribution to sustainable development:
- Industry must understand the changing social and political environment in which it operates. It needs to understand and value community perspectives and respond to changing community expectations – or it will find it increasingly difficult to access land, capital and insurance and to recruit and retain high quality staff.
- Engagement challenges assumptions, enriches and validates decision-making, and offers opportunities to progress on the basis of mutual trust and understanding.
• There are few purely technical questions – all involve value judgments. Mining involves complex and contradictory social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts. All stakeholders have a right to participate in decisions which affect their lives and interests.
Facing the Future reflects the outcomes of eight independent research projects and nine regional multi-stakeholder workshops. Its analysis, conclusions and recommendations were developed and articulated through extensive stakeholder dialogue and communication, and represent a broadly accepted vision for change in the minerals sector.
