A multi-stakeholder approach to secure sustainable partnerships in the mining sector.

The sustainable development has had an important contribution from United Nations across the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Goal 17 is called Partnerships for the Goals and is considered a way to figure out paths to stablish projects that can bring benefits to the environment, society and the economy. One of the purposes is encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of multi-stakeholder partnerships.Considering mining industry, it is possible to observe that social license to operate is one critical issue that is affecting reputation and performance of some companies in Brazil. This is due to some environmental impacts and difficulties to stablish a reasonable relationship with communities around mined areas.The paper presents the results of a multi-stakeholder discussion promoted with the participation of around 50 people from different organizations and civil society related to the mining industry. The initiative identified some opportunities that can make easier the social and legal permits related to the mine projects in Brazil. Some outcomes of the meeting were:• The participants agreed that this is an important initiative for mining sector in Brazil;• It is necessary to work together to make mine projects more inclusive and related to the regional development planning. • With good management and governance, the mine projects have an important structural role in society, contributing to economic and socio-environmental development.• There is a relationship between small-scale and large-scale mines in Brazil. Improvements in sustainability in small-scale mines can benefits large scale ones and vice-versa.• Mining companies in Brazil needs to rely on public policies considering socio-environmental and political aspects in order to ensure a balanced coexistence with the society.• Brazil has a geological setting that can make mine sector stronger than nowadays: mining like a driven of regional sustainable development.The experience in this research demonstrates that the concepts of the Goal 17 can be a strong tool to provide the development of mine sector, since promote partnerships that consider aspects related to the different parts of the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]