Project description
A novel lens on the global sand crisis may support safer communities and sustainable mining
Humanity is using natural resources at an unprecedented scale. Sand and gravel represent the highest volume of raw materials used globally every year, far greater than even crude oil. The demand for sand, primarily by the construction sector, continues to increase, yet resources are limited. Overexploitation is damaging the environment, endangering communities and promoting violent conflict. The SANDLINKS project is addressing this important yet neglected crisis by applying the telecoupling framework. This system integration approach investigates the way humans and nature affect each other in an increasingly connected global community and allows to investigate what happens in the mining, transit, and consumption systems. By evaluating the main linkages between material use, economic activity, environmental pressures and social outcomes over distances, SANDLINKS plans to identify routes to a more sustainable sand consumption.
Objective
Global raw material extraction grew by 94% between 1980 and 2010 to reach a total of 70 Bt per year in 2010, and is predicted to reach 100 Bt by 2030. Sand and gravel are the most extracted group of materials worldwide. The construction industry is behind this huge demand. Sand is critical for concrete, land-reclamation projects or combating coastal erosion. Despite enormous advances being made to understand and quantify the footprint of human infrastructure, the “off-site” impacts derived from the provision of construction minerals are largely ignored. An ever-increasing demand for these resources is putting more and more strain on limited deposits, which has led to conflicts around the world and will likely lead to a “tragedy of the sand commons” if sustainable mining cannot be achieved. The project aims to understand how an increasing demand for sand affects complex human-nature dynamics and connects with environmental and sustainability challenges through mining, transportation, trade and consumption. I will apply and operationalize a systems integration approach, the telecoupling framework, and conduct studies at multiple scales to strengthen the knowledge base and contribute to develop possible pathways into a sustainable management and governance of construction minerals. This research will combine research methods such as evidence synthesis, material flow analysis and agent-based modeling. The research is proposed as a 3-year GF. MSU will be my host during the outgoing phase in USA and I will be hosted at UCL in Belgium during the third year. The MSCA will allow me to consolidate my transition to this field and become a pioneer in the application of an integrated perspective to address the environmental and socioeconomic interlinkages resulting from sand supply and demand. This research has great potential for scientific advancement and it will open up the best career possibilities for my career and new collaboration opportunities for the host organisations.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
1348 Louvain La Neuve
Belgium