DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Informed mining: risk reduction through enhanced public and institutional risk awareness (IM AWARE)

Project disclaimer

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Description

Lax governance policies allow poor business practices which can lead to dramatic disasters and shocking fatalities. In reaction to the consequent public outcry, legislation tightens governance policies. There have been countless examples of this cycle, including laws resulting from boiler explosions, drug scams, and events such as the Johnstown flood. We must short-circuit this upward spiral so it does not require the fatalities to drive it forward. Scientifically grounded multistakeholder governance has been proposed as a scheme to accomplish this, but little empirical evidence shows it is useful, especially in the context of countervailing economic forces and entrenched interests. Despite the enhanced awareness with several recent high-profile mine tailings dam disasters, mine operators and site workers do not practice good risk management. Several factors have been proposed including a lack of trust and fear of reprisal. This is exacerbated by failed efforts to reduce the vulnerability of communities through relocation of settlements, which are usually met with suspicious protests. A general climate of fear is precipitated by the misconception that risk management is counterproductive to economic competitiveness. The project explores the beliefs of stakeholders constructed because of dominating actors, cultural factors, and the local context. Interviews will explore individual perceptions of risk and their implications for the co-development of mitigation strategies. The results will inform the multistakeholder workshops, each convened to address specific challenges relating to participatory management. Participant experience will be evaluated, as will approaches for communication and the role of science in this interaction. Sociocultural metrics for (i) risk neglect, (ii) low propensity to trust, (iii) distance to power (empowerment and social responsibility), and (iv) short-termism/commodity mentality will also be evaluated in the initial interviews and throughout the project. This creates an evidence base for the efficacy of multistakeholder governance models for mine tailings storage. Applying this across two case studies at different sites will evidence the adaptive capacity of the approach, and justification for its adoption across Brazil. A problem in participatory management is information asymmetry. Science can assuage this problem and provide a context for discussion and common decision making. The project will evaluate the effect of risk awareness on motivating near-term engineering interventions (e.g., decanting, pipe draining, etc.) and directing long-term construction and business practices of the industry that will reduce deaths and other risks suffered by economically disadvantaged vulnerable downstream populations, and preventing destruction of agricultural lands and the environment generally. The work will seek to demonstrate risk awareness does not threaten but can enhance economic competitiveness, addressing disaster management and sustainable development, even for mining operations, by sustaining mine operations, improving health of workers, reducing adverse impacts on workforce, reducing legal liabilities from dam failures and leachate releases, and forestalling legislative and regulatory strictures. The interests of mine owners and at-risk communities are not commonly seen as aligned. However, using science as the medium for identifying common interests, the project will create an evidence base addressing the efficacy of different schemes in efforts to reduce information asymmetry and, particularly, the use of scientific analysis to enhance risk awareness and communication which are fundamental to participatory management. The project's empirical results will be broadly relevant to other implementations of multistakeholder governance schemes, and its specific software developments are directly applicable to stability of water dams and landslides which are among the deadliest hazards.

Objectives

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Brazil

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