As a perennial advocate and speaker for the Minerals Industry and its role in society, I have long spoken on how our industry makes life possible on our planet. In that same context I have had the great privilege to view Designing Sustainable Prosperity as working draft. And what a treat that opportunity has turned out to be. Doris and her collaborators have brought together a broad and deep menagerie of facts, models and case studies demonstrating the role and future potential the minerals industry has in terms of making a world a better place. And at the same time, they have helped describe how all the pieces fit together in a simple and practical way. Not only is her work a great collection of ideas and references, and it is also a great story in terms of how it brings the pieces together and guides how we can each make a difference.
As the leader at Anglo American, we brought together 100,000 people in a conversation to define our Purpose, to "Re-imagine mining to improve people's lives". In Designing Sustainable Prosperity Doris and her team are imagining what real change looks like and how it can be delivered.
Mark Cutifani, Chairman Vale Base Metals, Former CEO at Anglo American plc.
The world's population of 8 billion inhabitants requires the resource industry, not only to supply its material needs, but to be part of the disciplined solution in improving the environmental condition of the planet. This requires a shift in how resource extraction is undertaken, to ensure there are sympathetic sustainable local outcomes. The mining industry is a guest in the areas where it works, and the local social, regulatory and political frameworks need to support and encourage, timely and efficient mineral extraction, if we as a society, are to meet legislated aspirations for 2050 and beyond.
With her extensive industry perspective, Doris Hiam-Galvez has set out a road map to achieve resource demand through Designing Sustainable Prosperity. Her book is evidenced-based and recommended for Corporations, Politicians and Regulators to understand the sequencing necessary to access the energy transition metals and realize 2050 aspirations in a sustainable manner.
Robert Quartermain, DSc, Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Inductee 2022, Co-Chair Dakota Gold Corp, Former Executive Chairman Pretium Resources Inc
In her timely new book, Doris Hiam-Galvez challenges communities that are dependent on traditional mining and other extractive industries to adopt a "Designing Sustainable Prosperity" planning approach that can produce vibrant and diversified local economies. Hiam-Galvez makes a richly-illustrated pitch for communities to imagine and embrace a future in which their historical, single-dimensional industries leverage tech and other advances to set them up for durable, long-term success-while simultaneously attracting new, sustainable businesses into their region.
Communities around the world increasingly know that climate change and related water, biodiversity, and land use impacts require new ways of thinking about-and prospering in-a more durable and sustainable future. This book offers a must-read roadmap for these communities. It presents an optimistic, "bottom up" collaboration recipe that leavens outside expertise with community-based history, capabilities, and ambition to move in new directions and create reimagined local economies that are strong, sustainable, and well-prepared for the long haul.
David J. Hayes, Professor at Stanford University, formerly a senior White House climate advisor for President Biden and the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior for Presidents Obama and Clinton
A dichotomy exists between the growing need for minerals to sustain modern society and facilitate global decarbonisation on the one hand, and the negative perception of the mining industry on the other. DSP applies a systems approach to unlocking the long-term potential of resource-rich regions by integrating mining operations with regional economic development, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. It acknowledges the finite life of mining projects and proposes a practical methodology to seek holistic solutions to ensure the ultimate diversification and growth of the regional economy well beyond the closure of the mine.
This book describes a thought-provoking pathway by which mining can become a catalyst for the collective sustainable good through the integration of the social, economic, technical and environmental dimensions that connect a mine to its host region.
John MacKenzie, CEO and Founder of Capstone Copper
Communities often underappreciate the potential for resource projects to be a force for good. More often, new project proposals are met with the language of fear and opposition. A different mind set using our collective creativity would instead see such opportunities as a potential catalyst for achieving a larger and more sustainable future. By reshaping our relationships, the language could be one of hope and vision.
Designing Sustainable Prosperity is a must read for those visionary community and regional leaders that want to leave a positive legacy for their future generations.
David Harquail, Chair of the Board of Directors at Franco-Nevada, Board Director at the Bank of Montreal
The linked climate and biodiversity crises are challenging natural resource communities. We need to protect and restore biodiversity, support local development, extract minerals for the energy transition, and deploy wind, solar, pipelines, and transmission infrastructure. Without new strategies and tools, communities and our environment will suffer. Designing Sustainable Prosperity offers an innovation at the right time. Hiam-Galvez starts with the right question - what does prosperity look like for this region and this community. This new way of thinking is underpinned by an engineer's attention to planning and detail. It's a must read for those that care about development of our natural resources, from town halls and Tribal councils to mining company boardrooms.
Stephen D'Esposito, President and CEO at Regeneration and Resolve
Doris has written a most thoughtful book that is most valuable to the well-being of communities in mitigating the impacts of development on their lives. This is a particularly invaluable resource for the Indigenous communities of the world who are often the nearest neighbors to major natural resource development projects. All Indigenous leaders committed to sustainable development should read this book. It details a practical method for balancing development with environmental protection and enhancing quality of life.
Calvin Helin, Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Indigenous Leader
Today the world is being challenged as never before to find a way forward that is positive for people and ecosystems, over the short term and long, and using processes that fairly distribute the benefits, costs, risks, responsibilities, and accountabilities. It is only by doing so that today's generations will not undermine the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In a nutshell, this is the essence of practical implementation of sustainability concepts. Designing Sustainable Prosperity takes up the challenge of practical application of sustainability concepts in a constructive and thought-provoking way. This book is essential reading for those who wish to address this tough challenge head-on.
Designing Sustainable Prosperity addresses the sustainability challenge in a constructive and thought-provoking way. It is essential reading for those wishing to address this tough challenge.
R. Anthony Hodge, Ph.D., P.Eng., Adjunct Professor, Queen's University (Canada) and University of Queensland (Australia), President, International Council on Mining and Metals, 2008-2015
This book is essential for our time. We have been living OFF the land for far too long. Now we need to live WITH the land. The primary change we need to make is perceptual. We need to understand more deeply that we are not outside observers of Nature, but literally extensions of Nature. How Nature goes, so do we. Understanding this relationship is essential for transformation. Also essential is to translate this understanding into action. And this is where Doris succeeds with a clear outline of how communities can collaborate with business to create a sustainable future for both!
Beau Lotto, Professor of Neuroscience, Author, Founder and CEO of several start ups
As the energy transition is accelerating, the world is moving from fossil fuels to metals as one of its primary resources. A new approach is needed however to ensure that the extractive mindset is accompanied by stewardship of the Earth and our own environment. This book provides a unique and comprehensive framework to balance mankind's resource needs with environmental stewardship, by design. Doris Hiam-Galvez proposes to deliberately and systematically Design Sustainable Prosperity (DSP) based on understanding regional societal, economic, environmental and core values. The book encourages systems thinking to break the current piece-meal approaches by leveraging a society's creativity to create sustainable regions. A step-wise process calls for key parties to sit around the table and follow such deliberate design in a staged process, laid out eloquently in 10 chapters backed up by real-world examples. The writer comes with 30 years of experience in the extractive industry, and her passion for doing it different clearly shines through the pages of a book that is a must-read for countries' leadership, or anyone with a drive to make the 21st century a better one.
Jef Caers, Founder Mineral-X, Stanford University
Doris Hiam-Galvez and her co-authors have tackled a problem that has been the curse of mining for decades, if not centuries, the ability to generate lasting value in a region that hosts a mine. Designing sustainable prosperity (DSP) is a novel, organized and systems-based approach that provides a template for seeking sustainable economic activity from mining that continues after the mine has closed. The basis for this approach starts with our understanding of the earth, the three-dimensional geoscientific data that explains where concentrations of metals occur and how the metals can be recovered responsibly with minimum impact on the environment. This fundamental connection to the earth is rarely evaluated comprehensively when considering long term sustainability. As is well-recognized, resource development requires extensive consultation with communities, experts and numerous stakeholders and this book explains how this can be done at various stages throughout the process. The book provides a new approach that deserves serious consideration, and at the very least, it should increase efforts to determine how mining can contribute more completely and effectively to regional prosperity.
John Thompson, CIO at Regeneration, Board Director at KoBold and MineSense, Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol, Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and Cornell University
Redesigning societies, leveraging and valuing all resources, is the challenge of the day: more than a hopeful vision, DSP charts a viable, evidence-based path to realise this opportunity. A must-read for mining and minerals leaders, policy-shapers and stakeholders who want to play a role in reshaping linkages between a complex industry and its environment and invite others to join them on the journey of collaborative design. From rethinking education as the spark igniting the fire of change, to demonstrating the value unlocked by DSP for people and their natural environment through several high-level case studies, Doris Hiam-Galvez and her co-authors offer insights and inspiration, connect the dots across disciplines and expectations, challenge the status quo and energise us to reach new heights.
Ludivine Wouters, Managing Partner, Latitude Five
