"On the Ground Research" conference getting off the ground

Jamie Kneen

National Program Co-Lead

April 14-16, 2000: MiningWatch Canada, together with the Canadian Consortium for International Co-operation (CCISD), is hosting a workshop in Ottawa of 25-30 community leaders from rural and indigenous communities affected by mining around the world.

Participants will share their experience in dealing with mining activities and figure out the kinds of research they need in order to respond effectively to the impacts of large-scale mining on their communities. The workshop will enable leaders from these communities to develop a relationship with one another and learn from each other's experiences and expertise. Participants will come from Canada and the US and from Suriname, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Guyana, Ghana, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

During the workshop, a booklet — the "Collective Memory" — will be produced so that participants can take it home with them. At the end of the workshop, the organising committee will work to pull learnings together into a research framework for academic and funding institutions.

Funding for the workshop is from a variety of sources, including the Mining Policy Research Initiative of the International Development Research Centre.