Mining and Metallurgy Regions of EU

Project Information

MIREU

Grant agreement ID: 776811

DOI

10.3030/776811

Project closed

EC signature date 31 October 2017

Start date 1 December 2017

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 2 999 725,00

EU contribution

€ 2 999 725,00

Coordinated by

GEOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MIREU (Mining and Metallurgy Regions of EU)

Reporting period: 2019-06-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project MIREU established a network of mining and metallurgy regions across Europe with a view to ensure the sustained and sustainable supply of mineral raw materials to the EU. The network helps the regions to share knowledge and experiences when facing the challenge to establish and maintain an extractive industry. MIREU facilitated an exchange between all interested stakeholders in the regions, namely regulatory authorities, political and administrative bodies, development agencies, mining companies, non-government organisations, as well as the general public. It also provided the context for a bottom-up integration of these activities into their respective socio-economic and socio-cultural context. Development is about people and, therefore, bringing people into the decision-finding procedure in order to achieve a ‘social license to operate’ was a key aspect of the project. Guidelines and recommendations for actions to be taken to foster a sustained and sustainable development of the extractive industries were developed in close co-operation with a range of selected regions from the European Union. These regions will form a nucleus and multipliers for a more extensive network beyond the life-time of the project, therefore MIREU did set up a long-term collaborative and sustained network of selected regions Council of Mining and Metallurgy EU Regions (CoMMER) that will ensure the intended impact well into the future.

Objectives
Engaging a representative number of mining and metallurgy regions for the network
Determining the framework conditions that are either conductive or hampering mining and metallurgical development in Europe
Develop EU SLO Guidelines and a SLO Toolbox
Promoting regional synergies for economic growth
Establish operational synergies between R&I investments and the ESIF
Awareness raising of the citizens on the importance of mining and metallurgy

• MIREU website: http://mireu.eu
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIREU_EU
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/11376706/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MIREU.EU

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

The following objectives were targeted during the reporting period (M1-M18):
Objective 1: Engaging a representative number of mining and metallurgy regions for the network
• Online stakeholder database with over 200 registered stakeholders
• The MIREU Seminar: Cultural and Industrial World Heritage in Mining and Metallurgy June 2018 in Freiberg Germany
Objective 2: Determining the framework conditions that are either conductive or hampering mining and metallurgical development in Europe
• Review of the applicable regulatory and policy conditions in the MIREU Regions
• Overview over the current and future specific skills requirements in a modern mining industry in MIREU regions, report and questionnaire
• Mining heritage and research capacities in Regions – SWOT Analysis and transferability report
Objective 3: Develop EU SLO Guidelines and a SLO Toolbox
• Two MIREU SLO workshops;
• Regional cultural identity and stakeholder mapping report
• WP4 has activated world class experts for SLO International Stakeholder Panel
Objective 4: Promoting regional synergies for economic growth
• Review of MIREU Regions’ RIS3 strategies related to their assets in economic aid
• The first Governance and Policy within Mining and Metallurgy EU Regions Workshop was held in Leon Spain in January 2019
Objective 5: Establish operational synergies between R&I investments (public and private) and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)
Objective 6: Awareness raising of the citizens on the importance of mining and metallurgy
• Side events and clustering, where MIREU was represented by the project partners
• MIREU Knowledge Portal was launched.

Objectives for the 2nd Period and work conducted:

• MIREU started collaboration with the OECD Mining regions and cities initiative which connects the European regions with global networks
• Online event co-organised with OECD “ Impacts and Opportunities of Covid 19 on mining regions and cities” (23/6/2020)
• Stakeholder workshop for policy making, smart specialisation took place in October 2019 in Seville, Spain
• A roundtable discussion was jointly organised by the Smart Specialisation (S3) Partnership on Mining Industries and CoMMER to discuss the future of EU mining regions collaboration in terms of using existing platforms in March 2021
• The MIREU Final Event and the official launch of the CoMMER in April 2021

Determining the framework conditions that are either conductive or hampering mining and metallurgical development in Europe
• Workshop on skills requirements in mining and metallurgy industry in Krakow on 5-6 December 2019
• Deliverable 2.2: SWOT analysis of regions and valorisation of mining heritage
• Deliverable 3.3. Review of investment conditions in the MIREU regions
• Deliverable 3.4: Set of recommendations on framework conditions for the MIREU Regions

Develop EU SLO Guidelines and a SLO Toolbox
• Third MIREU SLO workshop; in June 2019 in Brussels
• Finalizing the EU SLO Guidelines and Toolbox
• Maramures SLO Case Study

Promoting regional synergies for economic growth
• Deliverable 5.1: Strategic analysis of EU Regions and mining potential and opportunities within their RIS3
• Deliverable 5.2: Compendium of synergies in regions and between regions.
• Deliverable 5.3: Roadmap compiling best practices and conclusions of an inter-regional plan for integration of funds policy, framework, policies and regional strategies.

Establish operational synergies between R&I investments and the ESIF
• An online webinar on funding tomorrow's raw materials sector was organised in May 2020
• Layman’s report on European Regions’ regional and national R&D investments & ESIF funds related to mining and metallurgy

Awareness raising of the citizens on the importance of mining and metallurgy
• A full-day event at EU Raw Materials Week 2019 on 21st November, co-organised with the European Minerals Day and EUMICON
• The MIREU Final Event and the official launch of the CoMMER in April 2021
• Open access MIREU online knowledge database
• An SLO video was also developed to explain the concept of SLO and how the MIREU project is contributing to the SLO work within the European mining context.
• MIREU project has been present at the PDAC Convention in both the 2020 and 2021 editions

• MIREU website: http://mireu.eu
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIREU_EU
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/11376706/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MIREU.EU

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)

Establishment of CoMMER - Council of Mining and Metallurgy EU Regions
Developed EU SLO Guidelines and a SLO Toolbox
The work done in WP5 represents an advance since is a collection of compared characteristics of RIS3 aspects and mining-related economic, social, political and technological aspects. This collection of data will be very useful for policymakers in charge of updating RIS3 and will serve to consider in a wider perspective mining and metallurgical issues, allowing then a more fluid funding for the corresponding projects.

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