The Role of Mineral Raw Materials Education in a Social License to Operate—A Case of Poland

Abstract

The Social License to Operate (SLO), understood as the consent of a wide group of stakeholders to mining activities, has become an important element in the process of obtaining a mining license in recent years. Such a pattern of increasing importance is common, both in Poland and throughout the EU. Therefore, it should be of key importance to prevent society’s reluctance to this industry. The article indicates that a very important tool in this matter should be reliable and knowledge-based raw materials education, carried out as early as at the stage of school education. Deficiencies in this respect were revealed through a survey conducted among children and youth up to 15 years of age. The results of the survey were discussed in the context of the development of raw materials education in Poland, which results indicate should focus on emphasizing the benefits of mining, both in terms of the general public and individuals. Shaping and strengthening the mineral raw materials awareness of the inhabitants of Poland is also of key importance for the implementation of standards for the protection of mineral deposits and ensuring the country’s resource security.

Promoting Corporate Extraterritorial Sustainable Responsibility through the Lens of Social Licence to Operate

“…For example, there are gaps in the current literature in terms of the linkages between SLOs and specific company law regulatory approaches such as directors' duties, mandatory transparency or philanthropic responsibilities in the context of extraterritorial responsibilities within individual jurisdictions. Moreover, although the concept of the SLO originated in the mining industry [104,105], it is also valuable to deliberate the application of the concept in other CSR-sensitive industries such as oil and gas, energy, tourism and other large infrastructure industries. Important topics for further research include the application of SLOs in different industries, and the enforcement of extraterritorial responsibility to promote the interests of particular stakeholder groups such as employees.…”

Public participation as an element of a mineral deposit safeguarding system – international experiences

“…One element to achieve social acceptance -expressed by SLO in the mining industrycan be through education and awareness raising of the society (Nieć and radwanek-Bąk 2010;radwanek-Bąk 2018;Kot-Niewiadomska 2022). In many cases, mining has to face a change in its negative image.…”

The Importance of Education on Mineral Raw Materials for More Secure and Enjoyable Tomorrow

“…However, mining activity and mineral resources remain an unknown topic for society in general, especially for children. Although children are strongly educated in aspects related to biology or animals, there is no such education in the mineral raw materials area, which causes, even with practical experience, to be quickly forgotten by children [4]. Earth sciences in general, geology in particular, have less and less weight in schools.…”

“…This is especially concerning in cases such as Spain, which has lost the half of its industry since the late 1970s [5]. It is increasingly difficult to see industry as common practice and a significant part of society is unaware of the mines in our environment [4]. Precisely this deindustrialization has caused a notion in a part of society that mining only generates wealth and work for companies and not for local communities.…”