Responsible mine restoration - Integrating local engagement, ecology, and engineered solutions in arctic environment

The aim of the project is to develop a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to improve mine restoration in Arctic regions, in close dialoguewith local communities.

A responsible and resilient reclamation thus requires integration of societal demands, technical limitations of minecovers and the biological constraints and possibilities of the Arctic.While Europe looks to the North to develop its autonomy regarding critical metals for the green transition and the mitigation of global warming.Mining has undeniable impact locally, on landscapes, water, terrestrial ecosystems, andpeople who live there.

From the initial operations to closure, mining lasts years or decades, while closed mines are forever – and thereforecareful and thoughtful considerations are needed.Mine reclamation normally focuses on technical performance and often overlooks other interests. As voiced by several actors, this narrowperspective will no longer do.

Methods and insights are needed to meet the particularities of the Arctic conditions and the needs and wishes ofits inhabitants.

Reclamation offers opportunities to co-create new landscapes according to demands and wishes of local communities, includingtheir practices, knowledges, and lessons learnt from former operations, at an early stage of the mining activities.This project addresses the working process of mine reclamation, gathering biologists, engineers and anthropologists frominstitutions in Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Sweden.