Emerging leaders from across Africa are in Queensland for an Australia Awards Short Course to help them tackle the challenges of social and environmental sustainability and leverage economic development from small-scale mining.
The University of Queensland (UQ) has welcomed participants of the Australia Awards program who will spend four weeks completing a short course on social and economic development in small-scale mining.
Course Leader, small-scale mining expert, and Manager: Training and Knowledge Transfer at UQ’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) Lynda Lawson said that small-scale mining provides a vital livelihood for many across the globe including many women.
“The challenge is to leverage better economic development outcomes for those involved in extraction and to improve occupational health and safety and mined land rehabilitation,” she said.
The course will draw on the technical expertise of UQ SMI’s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining and the entrepreneurship and leadership development expertise of UQ Business School.
Deputy Director, International Development Dallas Dowsett said, “International Development is delighted to continue working with the Australia Awards to improve social and economic outcomes for communities involved in small-scale mining.”
Participants in the Local Economic and Social Development in Extractives Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (LESDE ASM) short course will spend four weeks in Australia.
The group will be on campus at UQ St Lucia for three weeks, consolidating and extending their technical knowledge about mining and local economic and social development, and improving their leadership capacity.
In addition, the group will spend a week learning about best practice in planning, regulation, mined land rehabilitation, permit allocation, formalisation, and value addition through field visits in Central Queensland.
A strong focus is on designing and delivering a workplace project that will transfer newly acquired knowledge when they return home.
This will be followed by in-depth application of all they have learned in a field trip to mining regions of Ghana.
The Australia Awards are funded by the Australian Government and offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia, and for high-achieving Australians to do the same overseas.
Further information on Australia Awards is available at: http://dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/australia-awards/Pages/australia-awards.aspx
Media contact: Alessia Anibaldi, Manager, UQ International Development a.anibaldi@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 432 154 235
