News:
Sustainable Development and the Agenda of the Labour Movement

MMSD
Recruiting for Communications Position

First Meeting of MMSD Partner Organisations

South Africa Multistakeholder Meeting

Charter Working Group

Nominating Committee

Schedule of Events

Balancing Process & Outcomes

For a printable version of the MMSD news bulletin, click here.

Sustainable Development and the Agenda of the Labour Movement

Project Director Luke Danielson was an invited guest at ICEM's World Conference for the Mining Industry held 25 and 26 October in the Czech Republic. Trade union officials from many countries joined in a long and very constructive discussion of the opportunities presented by MMSD, and the steps which can be taken to forge links with MMSD efforts at both regional and global levels.

Mine safety was the subject of a great deal of the discussion, as were trends of mergers and acquisitions in the minerals industry.

The General Report prepared by ICEM staff and distributed at the meeting takes a gratifying view of MMSD's policy of openness: "At this stage one should acknowledge that the [MMSD] project has been extremely transparent."

National reports from ICEM affiliates in many countries presented a rich panorama of information about the very diverse circumstances and priorities of mine workers around the world. MMSD views this connection with labour organizations as a very useful source of information and perspectives from a set of actors deeply knowledgeable about many issues, and vitally affected by the future of the industry and the transition to sustainable development.

Damien Roland of ICEM is one of the members of MMSD's project Assurance Group.

MMSD Recruiting for Communications Position

MMSD is seeking an able and highly motivated graduate with 1-2 years experience to fill the newly created role of Communications Executive. The main responsibilities include:

• executing and coordinating MMSD external communication to a wide variety of opinion leaders;
• coordinating and frequently updating the development of basic brochures, fact sheets and bulletins;
• supervising the content of the Project web site; and
  
• assisting with the Project's participation in, or sponsorship of, events.

The role is offered as a fixed contract until March 2002, starting as soon as possible.

If you want to be part of the MMSD team, please fax (44 20 7831 6189) or email your CV with a covering letter to Elisabeth Wood, Assistant Project Manager, MMSD Project, 1A Doughty Street, London WC1H 2PN, e-mail mmsd@iied.org. A full job description is available on our website.

First Meeting of MMSD Partner Organisations

MMSD is strongly committed to a program of regionalisation. We are endeavouring to set up a network of regional centres to make possible a deeper engagement with stakeholders, to conduct research activities closer to the reality of local conditions, and to provide a platform for dialogue about issues in the transition to a more sustainable society and their implications for the minerals industries.

At present, regional processes are being initiated in six regions: Australasia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Europe, North America and South America. There are plans for other activities such as research workshops outside of these regions, but the regional structure is intended as a fundamental and lasting result of the MMSD process.

The stage of development of these regional processes varies from region to region. Some are fairly far advanced while others are still in the organisational stage.

There will be a meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay on 30 November and 1 December for regional partners, some potential regional partners, and others involved in development of the regional network to discuss the issues involved in the development of the regional processes, their capabilities, funding, and research and stakeholder engagement objectives. Arrangements for the meeting are being facilitated by the Mining Policy Research Initiative of the International Development Research Centre. For more information contact Patricio Leyton, patricio.leyton@iied.org.

Southern Africa Multistakeholder Meeting

On 16 and 17 November, MMSD held its first regional multistakeholder meeting in Southern Africa. The meeting was jointly organised by University of Witwatersrand and the Mineral and Energy Policy Centre. It followed an intensive outreach and consultation exercise in which over 700 organisations were contacted to solicit their ideas on priority themes and activities to be undertaken by MMSD in the region.

Around 80 stakeholders from nine different countries in the Southern African region attended the meeting. It was intended to be as representative as possible and included stakeholders from labour, government, industry, NGOs, small scale mining, women and academia.

The meeting involved much lively discussion and has provided a solid foundation - of stakeholder support and agreement on priority activities - for the Southern African process to move forward.

The meeting began with an overview of MMSD. This was followed by presentations from representatives of the different stakeholder groups on their perspectives of priority issues facing the mining and minerals sector in the region and on the role they saw themselves playing in the transition to sustainable development. This was followed by a role playing exercise in which participants were asked to put themselves in the shoes of another stakeholder group and consider issues of major concern to that group. The first day concluded with energetic debate of what sustainable development meant in the context of the mining and minerals sector in Southern Africa.

The second day commenced with an update on MMSD activities in the region, including the degree of stakeholder engagement and priority issues beginning to emerge. Five broad areas of potential MMSD activity were agreed on; small scale mining, HIV/aids, and mining and society, the environment and economic development. The way in which these issues should be taken forward by MMSD and potential outcomes were then refined in small group discussions. The meeting closed with the endorsement of a Steering Committee of representatives from different stakeholder groups to oversee the process.

Based on the outcomes of this meeting, the regional work group will draw up a detailed work plan. Meeting proceedings will be available shortly. For further information about the Southern African process, contact Elisabeth Wood at Elisabeth.Wood@iied.org.

Charter Working Group

A Charter Working Group (CWG) is currently reviewing MMSD's governance arrangements with the objective of assuring that the balance of responsibilities among the various bodies which comprise the Project's Assurance Group, the Work Group, and the Sponsors Group, is optimal. This Group is reviewing the draft Charters of these three bodies, all of which are available to anyone interested on the MMSD web site.

The CWG consists of two members of the Assurance Group, two members of the Work Group, two members of the Sponsors Group, and three distinguished outside participants. The CWG is chaired by Dr. Jay Hair, the Interim Chair of the MMSD Assurance Group and former President of IUCN. Susan Bass of the Environmental Law Institute is serving as Special Assistant to the Chair to facilitate the work of the CWG. Contact: Susan Bass, bass@eli.org for more information.

Many drafts and comments have been circulated and discussed among the members. The product of this effort will be submitted to the Assurance Group, the Work Group, and the Sponsors Group for their consideration and approval.

Nominating Committee

MMSD's Assurance Group is forming a Nominating Committee to propose candidates for vacancies on the Assurance Group, the independent body which assures the independence, objectivity, and integrity of MMSD's work.

At present, there are seven vacancies on the 24 member Assurance Group. A list of the current members with brief biographies is available on the project website, www.iied.org/mmsd/.

More details about this process will shortly be available. George Greene, Stratos Inc, has agreed to serve as Special Assistant to the Chair. Contact: George Greene, ggreene@stratos-sts.com.

Schedule of Events

Among the upcoming events in the MMSD schedule are the following. Further information is available either from the MMSD website, www.iied.org/mmsd/ or by contacting the indicated parties by e-mail:

5 December 2000:
European regional meeting for scoping of issues Brussels, Belgium

This one-day meeting will bring together approximately 20 experts from different stakeholder groups involved in the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the minerals chain in Europe from extraction through processing, use, re-use and disposal. Its objective is to understand where MMSD can add value to existing initiatives.
Contact: Elisabeth Wood, elisabeth.wood@iied.org

8 December 2000:
Southeast Asia scoping meeting to initiate regional process,
Manila, Philippines

Contacts: Frank McShane, frank.mcshane@iied.org
or Cecilia Dalupan, mcgd@ibahn.net

11 December 2000:
Australian scoping meeting to initiate regional process, Melbourne, Australia

Contacts: Frank McShane, frank.mcshane@iied.org
or Chris Burnup, chris@ameef.com.au

Late January 2001 Initial visit to Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asian Republics
MMSD is planning to organise a workshop to define the initial activities for stakeholder engagement in Russia, Ukraine and the Republics of Central Asia. To plan for this workshop, members of the MMSD team will be undertaking a visit to the region. We hope to visit several cities including Moscow, Novokuznetsk, Kiev, Kirov or Almati to meet people representing diverse interests of stakeholders in the region namely, local and national government officials, company representatives, academics and researchers, representatives of labour unions, NGOs and other civil society groups.
Contact : Silvia Kyeyune, silvia.kyeyune@iied.org

Balancing Process and Outcomes

The value of the MMSD Project depends upon its success in integrating a very clear and incisive program of analysis with a broad process of stakeholder engagement. If successful, this approach can lead to a clear agenda for the future which has broad support among principal actors, and is thus a solid platform for change.

These dual objectives of analysis and engagement are included in the contract between IIED and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which requires delivery of "a process of research and stakeholder engagement resulting in a platform of understanding and onward engagement on the critical sustainable development challenges facing mining and minerals use." This is also set out in the Scoping Study on which the MMSD Project was approved.

This dual approach is difficult to manage, in part because of differences in opinion among key stakeholders over the relative emphasis and priority to be given to the analytic side of the task as opposed to the process and consultation element. There are important actors who believe that the analytic tasks are moving too fast, and that the priorities being assigned different areas of work have not been sufficiently legitimised by consultation among principal stakeholder groups. There are others who have expressed the view that too much time is being spent in consultation and consensus building, and that the analytical tasks will lack focus and clarity as a result.

Our view is that the current balance is about right. As a Project, we believe:

• Those who have expressed concern that the Project lacks sufficient analytic focus need not, we think, be overly concerned. This Project will be a source of important new ideas, even if good manners dictate that we allow others to speak first.
  
  
• Those who are concerned that there has not been enough consultation and discussion should rest assured that there will be many and diverse opportunities for serious engagement with the MMSD process as it moves forward. Expectations of MMSD should not be too high. We have a very limited time within which to work, and cannot and will not please everyone. The only alternative which would allow us to achieve broader goals in a more orderly way would be to allow more time to get it done in, which is not an option.

The next Bulletin will focus on some of the Project's research outputs, particularly the newly developed outline of the Project's final report.

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