Past SDIMI Conferences
The main objective of this series of conferences is to assist the global minerals industries in their transition to sustainable development. The first conference, SDIMI 2003, was held in the island of Milos, Greece and attracted 200 international attendees representing industry, governmental organizations, associations, and research and academic institutions. On that occasion, the "Milos Declaration" was adopted, a statement of contribution to a sustainable future through the use of scientific, technical, educational, and research skills and knowledge in minerals extraction and utilization that was endorsed by the leading global professional and scientific organizations and institutes representing the minerals professional. Click here for more details.
The second conference in this series, SDIMI 2005, was held in Aachen, Germany, and was again a successful forum in convening the minerals community engaged in sustainable development, with particular emphasis on sustainability indicators, data evaluation and reporting and life-cycle assessment and product stewardship. The meeting concluded that the community must foster the implementation of indicators by setting up an international forum, providing incentives and benefits for industry (in particular SMEs), installing databases to feed indicators, and monitoring and documenting progress made towards sustainable development in the minerals industry for the benefit of all stakeholders. Click here for more details.
The venue of the third meeting in the series, SDIMI 2007, was once again Milos, Greece. The focus was on issues of benchmarking, SD value creation, operationalization of SD, creation of knowledge hubs, modeling and fiscal issues and best practices and tools. Conference sessions were organized in three simultaneous tracks:
- TRACK A - SUSTAINING RESOURCE AVAILABILITY: policy, research, and applications
- TRACK B - SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS: information in support of capacity building
- TRACK C - SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY: meeting shareholder and stakeholder expectations
The three topical panel discussions of this meeting focused on the same three major themes:
- PANEL DISCUSSION I - ENSURING SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY
- PANEL DISCUSSION II - INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY IN CAPACITY BUILDING
- PANEL DISCUSSION III - STAKEHOLDERS' EXPECTATIONS
The 2007 conference concluded with a plan and a well-defined process, representing a variety of stakeholders, which can provide guidance and direction to the minerals community on the path to sustainable development. Click here for more information.
The venue of the fourth meeting in the series, SDIMI 2009, was Brisbane Australia and was held June 6-8, 2009. 6-8 July. Themes included: Frameworks and tools for integrating sustainable development considerations into mine and plant design, Innovative methodologies for measuring sustainable development performance at the operational, corporate and industry level, Mining and minerals processing in a carbon-constrained world: reducing the GHG footprint, Sustainable development challenges in emerging mining countries, Community impacts and benefits of mineral resource developments, Stewardship and the management of products and wastes, Cumulative impacts of intensive resource development, Advances in life cycle and sustainability assessment, Industrial and regional synergies, Overcoming the barriers to the uptake of sustainability innovations, Integration of sustainability thinking into professional education.
updated: August 16, 2010