INTRAW scenario workshop: the world of raw materials in 2050

PRESS RELEASE | BRUSSELS | APRIL 2017 – The INTRAW project consortium recently launched three operational reports providing insights on best practices and weaknesses of raw materials research & innovation, education & outreach and industry & trade in the five Reference Countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States of America.

The EU-funded INTRAW project was launched in early 2015 with the aim of mapping best practices and boosting cooperation opportunities related to raw materials between the EU and five technologically advanced non-EU countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States).

The project consortium now presents three reports that focus on raw materials research & innovation, education & outreach or industry & trade, in the five Reference Countries. These three reports underpin the development of a better understanding of the achievements made in these five countries in relation to the entire raw materials value chain. The operational report on research & innovation describes and compares the different innovation systems in Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States, comprising – among others - the main role players, institutions and policies that drive research and innovation in the raw materials sector. The raw materials educational context in each of the Reference Countries is mapped in the operational analysis of education & outreach. The report on industry & trade notably includes the characterisation of industrial clusters related to raw materials in these countries and the way these clusters affect trade and global competition.

The findings of these operational reports also contribute to the design of the International Observatory on Raw Materials that is to be launched by the end of 2017. The Observatory will be a permanent international body that will remain operational after the end of the project, aiming at the establishment and maintenance of strong long-term relationships with the world’s key players in raw materials technology and scientific developments.

The operational reports and their summaries are available through the project website at http://intraw.eu/publications/. As a next step, INTRAW will launch, in the coming weeks, three scenarios describing the world of raw materials in 2050. 

INTRAW is funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research & Innovation (R&I) for a period of 36 months (February 2015 – January 2018). Under the coordination of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) INTRAW brings together an international consortium of 15 partners with extensive experience in research, innovation, education, industry, trade and international networking across the entire raw materials value chain.

CONTACT: Coordinator – European Federation of Geologists (EFG)

Vítor Correia, President, efg.president@eurogeologists.eu

Isabel Fernández Fuentes, Executive Director isabel.fernandez@eurogeologists.eu

INTRAW scenario workshop: the world of raw materials in 2050

PRESS RELEASE | BRUSSELS | DECEMBER 2016 – In the framework of the first EU raw materials week, the INTRAW project consortium organised, on 30 November 2016, a scenario workshop in Brussels where three scenarios describing the world of raw materials in 2050 were discussed.

The EU-funded INTRAW project was launched in early 2015 with the aim of mapping best practices and boosting cooperation opportunities related to raw materials between the EU and five technologically advanced non-EU countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States).

In a truly cooperative approach, the INTRAW project has recently developed three scenarios that describe the world of raw materials in 2050. After having elaborated the scenarios in a series of workshops run by the European participants of the project consortium in mid-2016, the current version of the scenarios was discussed in Brussels with more than 30 participants during the EU Raw Materials Week that took place in Brussels from 28 November to 2 December 2016. Participants from various nationalities and backgrounds – including researchers, policy-makers, and raw materials practitioners – had the opportunity to learn more about the scenarios, to provide their perspectives and to discuss the plausibility of alternate futures.

Given the current uncertainties that global politics have to deal with, scenarios are an excellent means to prepare for the future and to safeguard against developments that are not desirable, but yet still plausible.  The workshop results will help to refine the scenario story lines and to make them more robust. The final scenarios, named “Unlimited Trade”, “Sustainability Alliance” and “National Walls”, will be available through the INTRAW website in early 2017.

The workshop was also an excellent opportunity to raise awareness for the launch of the International Observatory for Raw Materials which is foreseen for 2017/2018. The Observatory will be a permanent international body that will remain operational after the end of the project aiming at the establishment and maintenance of strong long-term relationships with the world’s key players in raw materials technology and scientific developments.

Photos: INTRAW draft scenarios: The world of raw materials in 2050

INTRAW is funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research & Innovation (R&I) for a period of 36 months (February 2015 – January 2018). Under the coordination of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) INTRAW brings together an international consortium of 15 partners with extensive experience in research, innovation, education, industry, trade and international networking across the entire raw materials value chain.

CONTACT: Coordinator – European Federation of Geologists (EFG)

Vítor Correia, President, efg.president@eurogeologists.eu

Isabel Fernández Fuentes, Executive Director isabel.fernandez@eurogeologists.eu

This press release is also available in PDF format.

Intraw project - Second joint panels of experts workshop on internationational raw materials cooperation

PRESS RELEASE | BRUSSELS | OCTOBER 2016

The experts involved in the EU‐funded INTRAW project gathered in Cornwall (UK) from 5 to 7 October 2016 for their second workshop in order to provide the project consortium with suggestions  on  how  to  enhance  the  European  Union’s  International  Observatory  for  Raw  Materials  that  will  be  launched by the end of the project’s lifetime. 

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The European Commission has launched an external stakeholder consultation to shape the Work Programme 2018-2020 of Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 5. You are invited to participate in this consultation and express you views, particularly for the topic of "Sustainable supply of non-energy and non-agricultural raw materials".

The consultation document is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/SC5%20consultation%20scene%20setter_v2016-03-17_6.pdf  

Background information on the whole process is here:  https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/climate-action-environment-resource-efficiency-and-raw-materials-work-programme-2018-2020

The consultation is open until Friday 8th April.

Please feel free to pass on this information to your own networks of stakeholders. As stated in the consultation document, responses should be sent to  RTD-ENV-H2020STAKEHOLDERS@ec.europa.eu