ICMM’s Human Rights Due Diligence Guidance is designed to help mining companies improve how human rights impacts are being managed across the world.
Community Resilience
Community resilience has never been more important. Current and future disruptions from climate change, automation, and the changing footprint of mining are affecting the ability of communities to take part in opportunities in and beyond mining.
Our work on the Skills for our Common Future initiative will focus on consolidating what we have learnt over the last three years to define a skills agenda to build resilience within the mining sector and host communities for the next decade and beyond. We will also be supporting the roll out of our social and economic reporting framework, which commits members to report against a set of indicators that effectively assess the contribution of mining to social and economic development.
Issue at a Glance
- Mining operations and the communities and regions that host them are inextricably linked. When change, shocks or momentous events occur that effect these communities – whether or not related to mining activities – the industry can, and often does, play a vital role in supporting them to recover and prosper.
- In light of disruptions such as COVID-19, the fourth industrial revolution and the energy transition, the mining industry has an opportunity to reconsider what community resilience means and how it can best contribute to it.
- Through research, we have identified nine factors underpinning community resilience:
- Local knowledge and engagement
- Social and cultural networks
- Communications capacity
- Physical health of a community
- Individual resilience and mental outlook
- Economic vitality and diversity
- Emergency preparedness
- Health of the community’s environment
- Community organisation and leadership.
- By better understanding these factors, the mining industry can collaborate with key stakeholders (government, other industries, civil society groups and communities) to identify new ways to support more autonomous, less dependent, stronger and more prosperous community–company relationships
Our Priorities
Consolidate Our Knowledge Base
Mining can play an important role in strengthening social and economic resilience in host communities, including through the promotion of diversity and inclusion. Over 2021-2022, we have developed a body of knowledge that supports our understanding on how the mining industry can foster community resilience. We are working to consolidate and distil this knowledge into practical findings and recommendations that will be used to inform the upcoming ‘trial and refine’ phase of our Skills Initiative.
Identify and Commit to Collaborative Opportunities
ICMM’s Skills Initiative aims to accelerate national and regional efforts to drive inclusive economic participation and diversification beyond mining. We will deliver the initiative through a series of partnerships that leverage the resources of different global, national and local actors to identify best practices, and catalyse the adoption of effective skills planning and training approaches at scale. We will also look to draw on members long experience of working with local communities to inform our approach.
Support Implementation of the Social and Economic Reporting Framework
ICMM’s social and economic reporting framework commits members to report against a set of eight core indicators including on workforce composition, pay equality, wage level, provision of training, country-by-country tax reporting, local procurement, education and skills support, and capacity and institution support. This is the first set of consistent indicators that gives stakeholders comparable data to assess companies’ contribution to social and economic development. ICMM will assist members in integrating framework indicators into existing reporting systems by 2024.
Latest Updates on Community Resilience
Related Resources
Social and Economic Reporting: Framework and Guidance
Providing a foundation for consistent reporting on a company’s contribution to social and economic development.
Tools for Social Performance
These tools support a greater understanding of what social performance is and the enablers required within organisations to deliver good, consistent social performance.
An Inclusive Growth Approach to Promote Community Resilience
An inclusive growth approach encourages mining companies to re-imagine systems, rethink partnerships, unlock capital from under-leveraged sources and unite partners around common objectives.
Partnering for our Common Future: Optimising Mining’s Partnering Capability to Contribute to Community Resilience and Thriving Societies
This guide aims to support mining companies in strengthening their capability for partnering thereby contributing to communities while creating business value.
Community Resilience During and After COVID-19: What Role for the Mining Industry?
The mining industry is inextricably linked to the fortunes of the communities that they work alongside. This briefing explores how the sector can support development progress.
External Drivers Shaping the Future of the Mining Industry and Implications for Skills & Community Resilience
Critical external drivers that are outside the industry’s control will affect community resilience and shape how mining operations are developed and managed.
Framing Mining’s Future of Work and Community Resilience
Discussions on the future of work often centre on technology but this is not the real skills gap. Instead, it's the gaps in the cognitive skillsets required for distinctly human intelligence.
Future of Jobs in Mining Regions
Summary of the key findings from WEF’s 'The Future of Jobs Report 2020', focussing on data relevant to the mining and metals sector to assist the industry in planning future workforce strategies.
Social Progress in Mining-Dependent Countries: Analysing the Role of Resource Governance in Delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals
ICMM research finds that governance is key to determining socio-economic progress in mining-dependent countries.
Building Forward Better: Mining as a Partner in Supporting More Inclusive and Resilient Societies
Encouraging learning and thinking about mining’s collective role in supporting communities through COVID-19 and beyond.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (5th edition)
This edition of ICMM's 'Mining Contribution Index' synthesises into a single number the significance of the mining sector’s contribution to national economies.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining contribution index (4th edition)
This update to ICMM's 'Mining Contribution Index' ranks countries according to the importance of mining to the national economy.
Social Progress in Mining-Dependent Countries: Analysis Through the Lens of the SDGs
This research questions how social development progressed in resource-rich countries in the two decades before the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Company-Community Relations: Training Materials
A series of training materials based on key concepts from our suite of guidance to assist companies in developing mutually supportive and resilient company-community relationships.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (3rd edition)
This edition shows the significant contribution of mining and metals to national economies and provides an update to ICMM's Mining Contribution Index.
Understanding Company–Community Relations Toolkit
Helping mining and metals operations to understand and measure their relationship with host communities, and how to take practical steps to increase community support.
Research on Company–Community Conflict
This research looks at reported incidents of company-community conflict between 2002 and 2013 to deepen our understanding of trends related to the conflict between companies and communities.
Stakeholder Research Toolkit
Providing a methodology for understanding, measuring and monitoring key drivers of reputation among and between stakeholder groups.
Land Acquisition and Resettlement: Lessons Learned
Providing practical insights based on real experience on how resettlement activities can be done well – avoiding harm to communities and positively contributing to development.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining's Contribution to Sustainable Development (2nd edition)
This edition shows the significant contribution of mining and metals to national economies and provides an update to ICMM's Mining Contribution Index.
Approaches to Understanding Development Outcomes from Mining
This report sets out methods available to measure human and social development impacts and how they might be applied to mining project investments.
Community Health Programs in the Mining and Metals Industry
Captures a snapshot of practice in the area of community health, addressing issues ranging from communicable and non-communicable diseases to nutritional deficiencies.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining's Contribution to Sustainable Development (1st edition)
This report looks at the contribution of mining and metals to national economies.
Community Development Toolkit
This toolkit sets out how mining can contribute to community development, and provides 20 practical tools for all stages of the community development process across the mine life.
Mining Partnerships for Development: Toolkit
Provides a useful methodology for evaluating the positive and negative economic and social effects of mining at local, regional and national levels.
Mining: Partnerships for development – Mapping In-Country Partnerships
This report contains a mapping-of-partnerships from around the world to encourage companies to replicate and scale up partnerships across mining regions and improve development outcomes.