Guiding remote economic planning by measuring and ‘tracking and mapping’ the significance of Mining impact is a key objective of the Enduring Community Value from Mining (ECVM) Project.
ECVM is a CRC for Remote Economic Participation Project and in its fifth year of operation has successfully gained a rigorous understanding of the effects of mining activities on the local economies of remote areas, predominantly in Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia (states with the highest proportion of remote geography). Participation by remote communities in the broader economy can be achieved by delivering enduring value from mining, by ensuring that the various returns from mining are shared to stimulate local economic growth.
The team, led by Dr Boyd Blackwell in his role as Principal Research Leader, have completed economic modelling of the spatial impacts that mining and all other industries contribute to the local, regional, Australian, and hybrid Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander economies. These models are helping communities anticipate the likely impacts from various stages of the mine lifecycle. Associated projects include the role that mine lifecycle planning, corporate social responsibility, agent based modelling and integrated GIS assessment can play in delivering enduring benefit from mining.
The work achieved by the Project Team, which includes 5 PhD students (including 2 CRC REP scholars at UNE) in collaboration with a significant list of partners, ties closely to collaboration with community members as well as local businesses and mining companies. This collaborative approach has helped create number of databases, models, tools and online atlases that serve as resources for communities to assist with decision-making to improve long-term economic well-being.
The research findings from the Project have already delivered significant positive impacts, with a constant stream of publications serving to support some exciting opportunities for remote communities, including considerable influence on the South Australian Government’s deliberations for transitioning Leigh Creek to alternative futures, following the closure of its Coal Mine in late 2015 – see full article.
Dr Blackwell was an expert contributor to the New England Energy Forum and Election Debate held in the lead up to this year’s Federal Election, speaking specifically on the proposed option for a legislated change to help protect prime agricultural land from resource expansion through Agricultural Protected Areas (APAs), such as in the case of conflicted land use in the Liverpool Plains.
The work is now being applied on an international scale, with comparison being made between remote peoples of Australia and Sweden and their respective relationships with resource development.
The Project Team for ECVM are currently finalising a toolkit for remote communities, seeking to provide an ‘aide memoire’ for community members in negotiating and influencing the various stages of the life cycle of a mine. The toolkit will be dedicated to the memory of Dr Steve Blake (Curtin), who originally conceived the idea but died too young in August of this year from a brain tumour.
Further details of the project can be found on the CRC – REP page for Enduring Community Value from Mining, and further questions should be directed to Dr Boyd Blackwell, Principal Research Leader, Enduring Community Value from Mining
Ph: +612 6773 3279 // M: +614 2852 0887
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