CrItical RAw materials extraction in enviroNmentally protected areas

Project Information

CIRAN

Grant agreement ID: 101091483

DOI

10.3030/101091483

Project closed

EC signature date 28 October 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 2 291 975,00

EU contribution

€ 2 291 975,00

Coordinated by

INTERNATIONAL RAW MATERIALS OBSERVATORY AISBL
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CIRAN (CrItical RAw materials extraction in enviroNmentally protected areas)

Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Policy initiatives such as the EU Green Deal and the Net-Zero Industry Act are driving significant increases in demand for mineral raw materials. However, securing a sustainable supply of critical raw materials (CRM) for the EU is challenging for four main reasons: 1) certain mineral resources currently occur at only a few locations worldwide, 2) commercial recovery is dominated by a single or small number of countries, 3) politically motivated or warfare-related threats to supply chains, and 4) fragmented and inconsistent regulatory approaches affecting sustainable and responsible resource use.
Moreover, ensuring sustainable CRM supply whilst adhering to EU environmental and social commitments is a complex task. This complexity arises from the difficulty of rapidly ramping up domestic minerals extraction and processing, against a background of complex regulatory systems, growing resource nationalism, and public opposition to mining projects.
In this context, CIRAN developed, tested, and validated processes for systemic policy-making that balance environmental protection and societal needs for accessing CRM. This was achieved through: 1) streamlined permitting procedures in environmentally protected areas; 2) modern policies and social contract frameworks that reconcile protection of environmentally sensitive areas with domestic CRM sourcing in the EU; and 3) development of a community of practice to support uptake of CIRAN recommendations that will remain active after the project funding period.
CIRAN successfully completed all planned activities and deliverables, making substantial contributions to scientific understanding of how Europe can balance environmental protection with strategic raw material supply. The project equipped policymakers, regulators, industry, and civil society with evidence-based frameworks and practical tools for more effective decision-making, representing a major contribution to implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

CIRAN delivered significant milestones across its three Key Strategic Objectives (KSOs):
• KSO 1 – Defining systemic and integrated permitting procedures in environmentally protected areas:
o Developed comprehensive sensitivity maps that identify overlaps between CRM deposits and environmentally protected zones across the EU.
o Established criteria for 'good practices' in systemic permitting, drawing on insights from 15 detailed case studies.
o Created practical guidelines for systemic permitting procedures that integrate stakeholder perspectives.
• KSO 2 – Defining a modern policy and social contract framework:
o Produced comprehensive policy recommendations that establish a four-pillar framework for EU CRM resilience.
o Constructed future scenarios for 2035 that depict four potential pathways for Europe in CRM value chains.
o Designed a decision-tree framework to guide IROPI (Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest) project permitting.
o Formulated conceptual frameworks for Social Resource Contracts grounded in democratic governance principles.
• KSO 3 – Developing an active community of practice:
o Developed and launched a comprehensive Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) comprising nine lecture modules for junior professionals in regulatory authorities.
o Organised 12 public engagement activities (comprising 6 focus groups and 6 public dialogues) across six countries, engaging 173 participants.
o Released two series of the CIRAN Podcast totalling 16 episodes, which explore the framework conditions necessary for reconciling resource extraction with nature conservation.
o Produced factsheets, presentations, and educational materials to support the guidance framework.
o Expanded the LinkedIn Community of Practice to over 300 members.

Notable achievements during the reporting period include:
• Delivered 8 deliverables (seven public and one sensitive).
• Published 12 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals on minerals governance, environmental protection, and social acceptance.
• Presented findings at major international venues, including the World Resources Forum, OECD Mining Regions and Cities Conference, UNECE’s Resources Week, the EU Critical Raw Materials Week, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Parliament.
• Engaged over 4,500 stakeholders cumulatively through workshops, conferences, public events, and online platforms.
• Created innovative methodologies for community engagement that are replicable across Europe.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Europe's Critical Raw Materials Act faces a fundamental implementation barrier: community opposition has emerged as the decisive constraint for new mining projects, not geology or economics.
With 85% of known domestic mineral deposits lying within or near environmentally protected areas, as demonstrated by CIRAN, operationalising the CRMA requires institutional innovations grounded in community realities. Drawing on stakeholder consultations across European regions, the CIRAN Consortium identified three prerequisites for community acceptance: (1) demonstrable material criticality for societal needs, (2) minimal environmental impact through technological innovation, and (3) fair and binding benefit-sharing.
CIRAN developed two complementary institutional mechanisms—systematic decision-making frameworks and Community Development Agreements—that address those conditions while upholding democratic values and environmental standards. These frameworks require no changes to EU legislation, are adaptable across Member State contexts, and provide practical pathways for reconciling strategic resource security with local legitimacy.

CIRAN proposed a logical framework justifying extraction based on system-oriented assessment and co-creation of knowledge (i.e. tested and validated by communities located in or near environmentally protected areas). It developed novel social contract models (Community Development Agreements) identifying rights, obligations, and responsibilities of governments (national/regional), communities, and mine operators, capable of addressing transformations and challenges due to climate change.
As a distinctive feature, CIRAN brought together 24 external experts on environmental, political, social, economic, and technological factors shaping energy transition responses and CRM demand. These experts, organised in four Expert Groups (EGs), supported the Consortium by conveying insights on policy-making and implementation, economic drivers, technologies, mining, local governance, social capital, nature conservation, and biodiversity.

Democracy in action: EP session 'Minerals for Strategic Autonomy and Regional Development'