Conference: Sustainability in West Africa’s Mining Sector(s) – Political Trends, Popular Struggles and Sustainable Futures

Aim

The workshop aims to unite different actors from academia, business, civil society and politics to discuss the various meanings and dimensions of sustainability in/of the global mineral production system with a focus on gold mining in West Africa. It also invites a broader public to participate in discussions on the sustainable governance of large- and small-scale mining in Ghana, on the African continent and beyond. 

Intended Outcomes

A cross-disciplinary and transnational lens will allow participants to exchange on current political questions of land and mineral governance in Africa. It departs from the idea that we cannot expect to transform mining economies and contexts without understanding them. Thematically and conceptually, the aim is thus to achieve a better understanding of what sustainability (e.g., in the sense of sustainable economies and ecosystems) may mean for different African actors and societies. Questions of how to achieve (more) ‘just’ sustainability transformations globally will be addressed, and potential pathways to make mining practices more sustainable on national and local levels identified.

Organizers:

This conference is being organized by MIASA’s Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG 11), which investigates the multiple dimensions of sustainability in contexts of large and small-scale mining in West Africa. The interdisciplinary research team aims to document the initiatives and experiences of institutions in designing and implementing sustainability agendas in mining. The members are also interested in understanding policy frameworks around sustainable finance, forest reserves, water bodies and community mining initiatives in Ghana and Burkina Faso. In addition to gold, research is being conducted on the emerging policy frameworks on the extraction of lithium, as well as sustainability policy experience with salt mining. The team consists of: 

Prof John Kusimi, Co-Convenor, University of Ghana

Dr Diana Ayeh, Co-Convenor, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Germany 

Prof Emanuel Ofosu-Mensah, University of Ghana 

Dr Tongnoma Zongo, Member, Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (INSS), Burkina Faso

Dr Hibist Kassa, Member, University of Leicester, United Kingdom