Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SUMEX (SUstainable Management in EXtractive industries)
Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2023-10-31
The SUMEX Sustainability Framework for the extractive industry was created to promote the sustainable mineral production in the European Union (EU).
In this process, the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, as well as EU Social License to Operate considerations were considered and stakeholders from industry, government, academia and civil society backgrounds from across the EU have been involved. This framework has then been applied across the extractive value chain to analyse the mineral, as well as relevant economic, environmental and social policy frameworks of the EU, member states and selected regions along five SUMEX focus areas.
In SUMEX, experience from other projects (H2020, EIT RawMaterials, etc.) and industry provided a solid base for addressing the challenge of how best to implement sustainability considerations throughout the whole raw materials extraction life cycle. Projects beyond the typical raw materials projects have been identified, clustered and good practices analysed (i.e. concerning the five focus areas and the SUMEX sustainability framework). These good practices are now listed in an open access digital toolkit, consisting of a knowledge repository on good practices and a massive open online course (MOOC) for training and peer learning. The digital toolkit aims to strengthen the transfer of good practices and informed decision‐making by summarising and contextualising information and training materials and enabling interactive learning.
In this process, the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, as well as EU Social License to Operate considerations were considered and stakeholders from industry, government, academia and civil society backgrounds from across the EU have been involved. This framework has then been applied across the extractive value chain to analyse the mineral, as well as relevant economic, environmental and social policy frameworks of the EU, member states and selected regions along five SUMEX focus areas.
In SUMEX, experience from other projects (H2020, EIT RawMaterials, etc.) and industry provided a solid base for addressing the challenge of how best to implement sustainability considerations throughout the whole raw materials extraction life cycle. Projects beyond the typical raw materials projects have been identified, clustered and good practices analysed (i.e. concerning the five focus areas and the SUMEX sustainability framework). These good practices are now listed in an open access digital toolkit, consisting of a knowledge repository on good practices and a massive open online course (MOOC) for training and peer learning. The digital toolkit aims to strengthen the transfer of good practices and informed decision‐making by summarising and contextualising information and training materials and enabling interactive learning.
The second and final reporting period started in May 2022 and continued until the end of October 2023. Project outputs produced in the first reporting period are used for other project tasks or have been further developed in the second reporting period. In particular, the SUMEX Sustainability Framework, which is one of the main project outputs and was developed quite at the beginning of the project, served as a fundament over the entire project duration. Furthermore, the mapping of good practice examples (WP2) has been continued as part of WP4.
Based on the results of the two site visits (Sweden in September 2021 and Spain in March 2022), and the analysis framework and policy identification both conducted in the first reporting period, a deep dive policy analysis has been performed in WP3. This deep dive followed an Institutional Resource Regime (IRR) approach, focusing on various topics including land use planning/options, nature, biodiversity and water protection, as well as dust and air pollution. Additionally, to the IRR analysis, a Delphi study was undertaken to obtain detailed expert opinions and experiences on specific topics.
In WP4, the focus was on the digital toolkit, consisting of an online knowledge repository on good practices for industry and policy, and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). On the recommendation of the external reviewer in the first project review to add more small-scale industry practices to the knowledge repository, the mapping and identification of good practices continued to fill this gap. Besides adding practices, a quality check was conducted to ensure a validated data set, as well as an analysis of the good practices to synthesize information into relevant learning formats and formulate recommendations on how to contribute to a sustainable management in extractives for industry and policy makers. The knowledge repository covers 370 good practices (status October 2023). Through a ‘submit your practice’ function, where externals have the possibility to share good practices, the data collection is supposed to continue to grow. The practices submitted via this tool are reviewed by experts from the consortium to decide whether to integrate them into the repository. The MOOC was launched in November 2022 linked to a live-run with the experts of the SUMEX focus areas on which the six-week course is based. They actively participated in discussions and where available for questions and feedback. In August 2023, a second live-run took place following the same concept.
For establishing a Community of Practice (CoP), various approaches have been adopted, including a row of regional workshops which were part of WP5. In total, four regional workshops and one ‘bringing it all together’ workshop were performed. Two of the four regional workshops, i.e. West and North, already took place in the first reporting period (November 2021 and April 2022). The following workshops took place in the 2nd and final reporting period: a) regional workshop East on health, safety and permitting (May 2022); b) the regional workshop South on reporting and permitting (June 2022); and c) the summary workshop (November 2022 as part of the Raw Materials Week). These workshops were designed to share project outputs but also to discuss topics to get better insights into regional differences.
Another measure to spread project results in an easy-to-consume way was the production of a podcast, covering six episodes based on the content of the MOOC and the SUMEX focus areas. For the establishment of the CoP, WP6 identified and classified relevant actors for the raw materials sector. Nine policy briefs, three press releases and three academic articles and a large number of social media posts contributed to highlight the project and its outputs.
Based on the results of the two site visits (Sweden in September 2021 and Spain in March 2022), and the analysis framework and policy identification both conducted in the first reporting period, a deep dive policy analysis has been performed in WP3. This deep dive followed an Institutional Resource Regime (IRR) approach, focusing on various topics including land use planning/options, nature, biodiversity and water protection, as well as dust and air pollution. Additionally, to the IRR analysis, a Delphi study was undertaken to obtain detailed expert opinions and experiences on specific topics.
In WP4, the focus was on the digital toolkit, consisting of an online knowledge repository on good practices for industry and policy, and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). On the recommendation of the external reviewer in the first project review to add more small-scale industry practices to the knowledge repository, the mapping and identification of good practices continued to fill this gap. Besides adding practices, a quality check was conducted to ensure a validated data set, as well as an analysis of the good practices to synthesize information into relevant learning formats and formulate recommendations on how to contribute to a sustainable management in extractives for industry and policy makers. The knowledge repository covers 370 good practices (status October 2023). Through a ‘submit your practice’ function, where externals have the possibility to share good practices, the data collection is supposed to continue to grow. The practices submitted via this tool are reviewed by experts from the consortium to decide whether to integrate them into the repository. The MOOC was launched in November 2022 linked to a live-run with the experts of the SUMEX focus areas on which the six-week course is based. They actively participated in discussions and where available for questions and feedback. In August 2023, a second live-run took place following the same concept.
For establishing a Community of Practice (CoP), various approaches have been adopted, including a row of regional workshops which were part of WP5. In total, four regional workshops and one ‘bringing it all together’ workshop were performed. Two of the four regional workshops, i.e. West and North, already took place in the first reporting period (November 2021 and April 2022). The following workshops took place in the 2nd and final reporting period: a) regional workshop East on health, safety and permitting (May 2022); b) the regional workshop South on reporting and permitting (June 2022); and c) the summary workshop (November 2022 as part of the Raw Materials Week). These workshops were designed to share project outputs but also to discuss topics to get better insights into regional differences.
Another measure to spread project results in an easy-to-consume way was the production of a podcast, covering six episodes based on the content of the MOOC and the SUMEX focus areas. For the establishment of the CoP, WP6 identified and classified relevant actors for the raw materials sector. Nine policy briefs, three press releases and three academic articles and a large number of social media posts contributed to highlight the project and its outputs.
During the project duration, a variety of project outputs have been developed that are relevant for different target groups but mainly focused on industry representatives and policy makers. The key project outputs are: (i) the SUMEX Sustainability Framework, (ii) the digital toolkit – SUMEX MOOC and knowledge repository, and (iii) the Community of Practice LinkedIn group. In addition public deliverables, workshop presentations of good practice examples, and corresponding research datasets can be found on the SUMEX public webpage and/or are stored at Zenodo. Furthermore, information on SUMEX with explanations and links to relevant project outcomes is available on the European Commission’s website: RMIS – Raw Materials Information System.
The big advantage of the SUMEX Sustainability Framework is that different organizations, institutions and industries can use it as a guide for their own implementation and use.
With the digital toolkit, a broad target audience can be reached as the MOOC and the knowledge repository are particularly helpful for people who are already know the extractive sector very well and have extensive experience, but also for those who are just interested without any prior deep knowledge. These results will continue to exist even after the end of the SUMEX project. The MOOC is taken over by EIT RawMaterials as part of their raw materials academy; the knowledge repository will be available on the project website for at least the next five years and a functionality has been added to enable new practices to be introduced in the future.
The Community of Practice LinkedIn group has been established to share knowledge and experience. This group gives members the opportunity to ask questions and share information and experience. After project closure, it has been passed on to another EU project (CIRAN) which also focuses on sustainability in the extractive sector. The main idea is that the established CoP can now be continued in connection with other EU projects.
The big advantage of the SUMEX Sustainability Framework is that different organizations, institutions and industries can use it as a guide for their own implementation and use.
With the digital toolkit, a broad target audience can be reached as the MOOC and the knowledge repository are particularly helpful for people who are already know the extractive sector very well and have extensive experience, but also for those who are just interested without any prior deep knowledge. These results will continue to exist even after the end of the SUMEX project. The MOOC is taken over by EIT RawMaterials as part of their raw materials academy; the knowledge repository will be available on the project website for at least the next five years and a functionality has been added to enable new practices to be introduced in the future.
The Community of Practice LinkedIn group has been established to share knowledge and experience. This group gives members the opportunity to ask questions and share information and experience. After project closure, it has been passed on to another EU project (CIRAN) which also focuses on sustainability in the extractive sector. The main idea is that the established CoP can now be continued in connection with other EU projects.