Social scientists at the University of Queensland - Centre of Social Responsibility in Mining has received a grant from the Ford Foundation amounting to US$254,000 to improve inclusion and engagement opportunities in Columbia as the resources industry develops.
This grant from one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations will allow researchers to contribute to more inclusion of ethnic perspectives in Colombian mining policies.
CSRM Director Professor Saleem Ali said it was important for the Centre to diversify its funding to better serve the needs of various stakeholders involved and affected by the resources sector, not the least the communities it impacts.
"CSRM researchers want to be seen as bridge builders - the only way to do that credibly is to conduct projects with neutral entities such as the Ford Foundation," Professor Ali said.
Project Leader Diana Arbelaez-Ruiz said "the project will involve an internal dialogue amongst leaders of ethnic group organizations on key issues surrounding mining. That dialogue will be documented to contribute to the pool of tools available to ethnic group organizations to influence the policy-making and planning processes underway in Colombia".
She added that the research project aims to contribute to facilitating dialogue and informing national debates by sharing international experiences with stakeholders in Colombia, spearheaded by an overseas university and a Centre with international experience, working together with Colombian experts.
"There are no precedents in Colombia of processes that promote inclusion of ethnic perspectives in the early stages of policy formulation. We want to promote early dialogue to inform policy-making in the mining sector."
The research is underway and the final design of dialogue activities will be prepared in close collaboration with leaders of ethnic group organisations.
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