As part of Project Weeks 2025, an IEAI affiliated team took 15 students to the Erzberg Iron Ore Mine in Austria, the largest open-pit mine in Central Europe and the most important ore deposit in the alps. The goal of the excursion was to introduce students to the environmental and social impacts that mining has on the land and the surrounding communities.
As part of the course, “Stakeholder Conflicts in Mining Critical Materials”, IEAI Executive Director, Caitlin Corrigan, and IEAI affiliated researchers Svetlana Ikonnikova, Walter Timo de Vries, Gen Li and Mennatullah Hendawy are leading the students on an exploration of how stakeholder (defined as governments, companies and communities) needs differ in the context of mining and how negotiations between stakeholders over sustainable mining occur.
Related to the IEAI funded project AI4EI, the course also covers the ethical considerations of using innovative technologies to promote sustainability in mining. Considering ethical questions related to (1) autonomy and observation, (2) balance of rewards, (3) bias and justice and (4) explainability and acceptance.
The course will continue with a week of simulated negotiations between stakeholder teams in January.
