Community Development - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 629

Indicators help to judge the progress achieved by CD programmes (e.g. see Dow Jones
Sustainability Indexes Guide, www.sustainability-index.com/assessment/criteria.html ),
and while some indicators are intuitive, others which address the sustainable develop-
ment of communities, are more difi cult to derive. For the latter, the i rst step in develop-
ing indicators is to agree on a common vision for the community. The indicators are then
what community members want to see or have in their future world. These aspirations
can then be a tool for evaluating CD progress.
Evaluating progress towards sustainability requires the use of indicators that can meas-
ure changes across economic, social, and environmental dimensions rather than just meas-
uring changes within them. In the past, statistical indicators of how well a community or
society was doing included (1) economic progress (such as GDP, growth rates, unemploy-
ment, or incomes); (2) social well-being (such as infant mortality, years of schooling, or
number of people per house); and (3) environmental monitoring (such as air and water
quality, emission of pollutants, or hectares of protected areas). These indicators however,
give a narrow view of a particular sector or problem rather than a holistic picture of the
community and its environment. Indicators of sustainability need to look at all three
dimensions - environment, society, and economy. An important aspect of developing these
indicators at the local level is that they need to be dei ned, developed, and used by the com-
munity. Ideally the community becomes the steward of the indicators, which are deter-
mined through a democratic process.
The community's quality of life in the mining region remains the main aspect to con-
sider when determining indicators of sustainable development. Quality of life will inl u-
ence community performance, productivity, and the community's attitude and views
towards the surrounding environment including mining. Four categories of key indicators
help to measure quality of life ( Table 15.7 ) .
The human development index comprises the elements of life quality that are universal.
Fuli lment of human rights including gender equality and poverty are additional indica-
tors of quality of life.

Indicators of sustainability need
to look at all three dimensions -
environment, society and
economy.

15.4 PREPARING FOR MINE CLOSURE

CD programmes need to be designed to prevent long-term dependence on the mining com-
pany. Ideally, they initiate a process of development that will continue after mine closure.

CASE 15.2
Community Technical Working Groups in the Philippines

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the Philippines
recommends that all mining companies establish a
Community Technical Working Group (CTWG). While not
directly involved in the design of Community Development
(CD) programmes, the CTWG is an environmental and
social assessment team that allows multi-partite
monitoring of the environmental and social performance
of the project including its CD initiatives. For illustration,
the composition of the CTWG team for the

Boyongan Copper and Gold Project in Southern
Philippines is:
MGB 13 Regional Director
DENR-PENRO Surigao del Norte Representative
Silangan Mindanao Mining Representative
Tubod Municipal Mayor
Barangay Chairmen of Timamana and San Isidro
Principal of Timamana National High School
President of WATSAN

Chairman of SILKA
Priest of Philippines Independent Church
Church Elder of Seventh Day Adventist Church
Deacon of Baptist Church

The CTWG provides a clear framework for continuously
and objectively evaluating the success of CD programmes.
Programmes that fail to deliver expected outcomes are discon-
tinued, allowing resources to be redirected to other initiatives.