Date: 20 May
Hour: 2 p.m.
Venue: DECivil Museum and Online
More information: Official Site

«This PhD research proposes to develop a transformative framework for embedding Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) into Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) within the mining sector, considering accelerating demands under the European Critical Raw Materials Act.

Critically examining whether existing FPIC practices have effectively benefited local communities, aims at exploring how such tool can be strategically reconfigured to enhance rights-responsive governance. While SEA offers a pathway for integrating sustainability into upstream decision-making, its potential to address deep-seated power asymmetries and secure community participation remains underutilized.

Bridging procedural justice and strategic planning, the project applies adaptive governance and systems thinking to redesign FPIC processes beyond mere compliance. Through mixed-methods research—including literature review, empirical case studies, and policy analysis—the research will deliver a policy-relevant, metrics-based framework with ethical safeguards, offering fast-track pathways to fairer distribution of mining benefits and strengthened participatory governance in contexts shaped by environmental and geopolitical urgency.

VitaC | Unlocking the Potential of SEA for Rights-Responsive and Adaptive Mining Governance – Ana Soares supervised by professors Margarida Monteiro and Maria do Rosário Partidário

VitaC is an engaging monthly seminar series designed to explore and highlight the latest research initiatives within the Center for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture (CiTUA) at Instituto Superior Técnico, aiming to provide a dynamic platform for researchers to present their work, engage in diverse debates and promote innovation through collaboration.»