Descripción del proyecto
Una nueva perspectiva sobre la crisis mundial de la arena puede respaldar unas comunidades más seguras y una minería sostenible
La humanidad está utilizando recursos naturales a una escala sin precedentes. La arena y la grava representan el mayor volumen de materia prima utilizado en todo el mundo cada año, mayor incluso que el de petróleo crudo. La demanda de arena, especialmente por parte del sector de la construcción, no deja de aumentar, aunque los recursos son limitados. La sobreexplotación está dañando el medio ambiente, poniendo en peligro a comunidades y promoviendo conflictos violentos. El proyecto SANDLINKS aborda esta crisis importante aunque desatendida, mediante la aplicación del marco del «teleacoplamiento». Este planteamiento de sistema de integración investiga la forma en que los humanos y la naturaleza se influyen mutuamente en una comunidad mundial conectada cada vez mayor, y permite investigar qué sucede en los sistemas de minería, tránsito y consumo. Mediante la evaluación de los vínculos principales entre el uso de materiales, la actividad económica, las presiones medioambientales y los resultados sociales respecto a las distancias, SANDLINKS prevé identificar las vías hacia un consumo de arena más sostenible.
Objetivo
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.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
1348 Louvain La Neuve
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