Updated 13/05/2002

Stakeholder Engagement

Principles of Engagement

Global Stakeholder Dialogues

Even the most rigorous work of the best experts may not catalyse change if it is not accepted or understood by all of the social actors whose cooperation is necessary for change to occur. Experience shows that ideas are accepted when all of these actors have a role in defining the questions, deciding how to answer them, and absorbing the results.

The stakeholder engagement element of the project was intended to promote an equitable, constructive, secure, and transparent set of processes for engagement of all interested stakeholders. It aimed towards an acceptable plan for stakeholder engagement at the Project level and in each of the individual activities the Project undertook. This included identifying and engaging with diverse participants in the various research workshops and other events.

Principles of Engagement

The following Principles of Engagement embodied mutually agreed values and principles which governed the way MMSD approached engaging stakeholders in its activities:

The Basis of Participation

Those involved in an MMSD activity do so with the assurance that the Project is committed to providing the opportunity for participants to interact, with these expectations:

1.	MMSD provides an opportunity for people both to inform each other within the context of a project which seeks to describe the global mineral cycle, and also to offer advice and guidance to the Project.
2.	We hope to identify and understand the diversity of perspectives, values and interests that can help build the foundation for positive change. Views have to be freely expressed and the risks of such expression reduced. This is a forum in which individuals or groups can investigate ideas.
3.	There is a need for a place where views can be exchanged frankly and openly. MMSD has no authority to impose solutions on anyone.
4.	The Project should strive to identify where it can best help to guide the flow of discussion. The objective should be to help develop areas of common ground, understand where differences exist, and the underlying reasons for them.
5.	Wherever possible, we should widen the networks of connections and identify ways of addressing challenges, within and beyond the life of the Project.
6.	Participating in, or contributing to workshops or other events, commenting on documents produced, suggesting participants for meetings, and other interactions with the Project are not and will not be portrayed as an endorsement of MMSD. These basic understandings on the basis of participation will be included in any meeting reports prepared by MMSD. It is important that the basis for participation be widely understood.
7.	Notes or minutes prepared by MMSD will report important comments and points of view but will not attribute them to specific participants unless this is requested by the person making the statement. Exchange of ideas is freer when unknown consequences can be minimised.
8.	The notes from workshops should be reviewed by a representative group of attendees, agreed at the meeting, prior to finalisation. Notes will typically be of a summary nature and will include a list of participants. There should be an opportunity to discuss the contents of the notes and ensure that everyone is comfortable with them prior to their wider circulation.
9.	There should be an opportunity to discuss this Basis for Participation at the outset of any activity to ensure that participants are comfortable with it and that it is appropriate for the purpose. It is in no way a constraint on the participants to develop further or additional understandings as are appropriate in the circumstances.

MMSD recognizes an affirmative responsibility to ensure that this Basis for Participation is as widely known as possible within and among the different communities with which the Project is involved.

A printable version is available.

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Global Stakeholder Dialogues

MMSD developed three global dialogues around the following issues:

Mining Financial Institutions and Sustainable Development
In cooperation with World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme.

This initiative addressed the sustainability issues around the financing of major projects in the mining, minerals and metals sectors. The issues turn on the risks that private and public sector finance face in funding projects, the business case for risk management as an element of sustainable development and the responsibilities of financial institutions and the mining industry to broader society.

For more on specific activities related to this Dialogue, click here.

Access to Information
In cooperation with Fernando Loayza, Ian Thompson, Sándor Fülöp and Ginger Gibson.

This initiative sought to explore the challenge of "how to ensure meaningful access to information for all stakeholders within the minerals sector." Several representatives from NGOs, the mining industry, the consulting sector, and the Global Reporting Initiative were involved in this Dialogue.

For more on specific activities related to this Dialogue, click here.

Indigenous Peoples
In cooperation with the Mining Policy Research Initiative of the International Development Research Centre, MPRI/IDRC (MMSD South America’s coordinator for participation activities), Ambiente y Sociedad (MMSD South America’s national partner organisation in Ecuador), and Ameef (MMSD Australia).

Though indigenous peoples are very diverse throughout the world and the indigenous experiences vary from country to country, understanding their perspective on the production of minerals is key in the context of sustainable development. This Dialogue aimed to facilitate discussion of the critical issues surrounding the relationships between indigenous peoples and the minerals sector.

Information on this dialogue is available in English and Spanish.

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