The MinLand Network of Experts Meeting on Sustainable Mineral Land Use took place in Brussels, Belgium, 17^th September 2019. As the project has entered its final phase, the Network meeting was the perfect occasion for comprehensive and interactive discussions on the progress and current achievements of the MinLand project, and the challenges about the accessibility of land-use for exploration and mining activities in the EU. Stakeholders addressing various target groups from mine authorities, policy makers related to land-use planning, mining companies and their branch associations, relevant consultants and experts at SME level, and MinLand partners, were present at the event.

From the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), Nikolaos Arvanitidis, Chairperson, and Ronald Arvidsson, Coordinator of the Minland project, welcomed the participants with an engaging opening speech followed by an all-encompassing presentation on how to link “land-use planning to EU mineral policies addressing exploration and extraction of non-energy raw materials”.

Nike Luodes from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) gave an overview of the “MinLand project case studies, their context and insights about the good practices and value chain challenges”. Right after, Sara Louise Gottenhuber from, The Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), presented the “MinLand Good Practice Examples and preliminary Mineral Land-Use guidelines”, highlighting how good practices can help in overcoming some challenges in the mining policy field.

The meeting continued with round table discussions on mineral land-use planning with special regard to economic, environmental and social issues among three groups of participants.

Last but not least, the final session of the meeting, moderated by Slavko Solar, Secretary General at EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), ended with a productive panel discussion with six speakers from both the public and private sector, representing institutions, industries and associations.

Rodrigo Chanes-Vicente (Policy Officer at DG Grow), Athanasios Kefalas (President of the Greek Mining Enterprises & General Manager at Imerys), Louise Martins (Geological Survey of Portugal LNEG), Paul Gordon (Consultant at SLR Consulting), Riikka Aaltonen (Senior Adviser, Mineral Policy Department for Innovations and Enterprise Financing / Internationalisation and Sector-Specific Industrial policy Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland) and Åsa Allan (Kaunis Iron AB) shared their expertise, perspectives and needs concerning sustainable mineral land-use in Europe.

Among the main highlights shared during the panel discussion, speakers said that: “there is a need for good quality geological data”, “clarify how to apply for permits and the process about accessibility to land and exploration and extraction permits must be predictable”, “communication at the local level is a key enabler for acceptance”, “different languages and expectations among stakeholders can be challenging”, “it must be clear on what grounds one land is selected above the other”, “minerals are the cornerstone of civilization”, “geological information must be made such as to be understood by planners”.

Follow the final progress at www.minland.eu and already find important deliverables including real world cases covering exploration, mining, after use and related mining and land-use policies.

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