On 25 March, the TU Delft Geoscience & Engineering department organised a symposium on Critical Raw Materials, featuring a comprehensive programme spanning policy, society, industry practices, academic research, and data availability.
GSEU was represented by Project Manager Bob Hoogendoorn, who joined a panel discussion on education, capacity building, and ethics. The session was moderated by Jens Gutzmer (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf) and brought together contributions from Anna Melnyk (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management), Lingli Zhou (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and Tobias Schmiedel (TU Delft - Civil Engineering and Geosciences).
Key takaways from the discussion:
- Implementing the Critical Raw Materials Act requires moving beyond stakeholder inclusion towards shared ownership. Ensuring that those who bear the impacts of raw materials development also share in the benefits is essential for equitable and effective implementation.
- The economics of responsible sourcing should not rely solely on global market pricing. In a context where supply is often concentrated and environmental and social impacts may be insufficiently addressed, strengthening price stability should be a priority for European policy.
The symposium underscored the importance of aligning policy, research, and industry efforts to support a sustainable and resilient raw materials supply in Europe.
We thank the organisers for providing an excellent forum for exchange and wish them every success with their new department theme, Geoscience4CRM.
