A Strategic Risk-Reducing Planning Framework for Industrial Projects 2

Social license to operate is a high-ranking priority for mining operators. To reduce project delay or disapproval risks, a collaborative planning framework is proposed to increase visibility of social and environmental challenges, to improve communications, and to facilitate collaboration between multi-discipline stakeholders.

Programme

Course description

Over the last decade, there have been increasing demands for local communities to have direct involvement in decision-making, in co-development initiatives, and overall for improved environmental performance throughout the life of mining developments. As a result, pressure from external stakeholders is changing the space of environmental assessment and engagement processes, regulatory requirements, and management standards.

In fact, mining proponents have been failing to gain approvals, or experiencing extended permitting delays and significant rework due to dis-satisfied external stakeholders. When compared to baseline projections of budget and schedule, the result has meant high project failure rates – on the order of 70% within this sector.

To avoid such failures, industry must:

• Ensure that project teams are well aware of the broader environment and social performance expectations for future developments.
• Introduce system-based opportunity evaluations, integrated risk avoidance measures, and life-cycle perspectives to reduce potential social and environmental impacts overall.

Unfortunately, standard project management programs tend only to refer to these processes at a high level. To become effective at the integration of sustainability aspects into projects, both in-sector knowledge, and more in-depth discussion and training are necessary.

Course contents

Exercises will include:

• Staged and directed brainstorming around project components, risks and requirements, to help identify scope of a project, as well as increase recognition of knowledge & experience of a “team”
• Affinity mapping of mining development components and identifying interrelated functions, to understand complexity of the system
• Flow mapping of the mining value chain
• Brainstorming identification & dialogue regarding project stakeholders and their primary concerns, as well as “wastes” within the system
• Optimization exercise to practice how we might prioritize work and discover alternative solutions for better environmental performance and social acceptance
• Small group exercises to analyse example project components, to help participants understand how to identify the necessary information required for design, as well as which stakeholders to engage, to identify appropriate options to assess for said component
• Several opportunities for dialogue during and after each exercise

Type of training

This online course is a combination of e-learning and group work.

The course will be taught live – virtually, in a group setting, with a large proportion of time dedicated to applied and interactive exercises. Hands-on learning is the best strategy for everyone to fully comprehend lessons, and as such more than half of the class duration will involve active, applied work within the class.

Problem relevancy and solution guidance will be introduced in short 20-30 min lectures. Lecture periods will be interspersed with interactive polling and instructor-led, independent reflection, 1-1 and roundtable dialogues, group sharing / reviews, and virtual brainstorm and mapping exercises.

Objectives and outcome

This workshop offers registrants an opportunity to learn about collaborative risk identification, alignment processes and prioritization, and integrated project planning through hands-on application of the approaches throughout the training.

After taking this course, participants will:

• Understand project requirement types and prioritizing performance objectives, as well as the high-level risks associated with long-term and integrated project development lifecycles
• Understand the relevance of affinity and value stream mapping for project planning
• Understand how to discover systems-based risks and improvement opportunities
• Have an applicable strategy to identify relevant project stakeholders, including those who might introduce less obvious requirements of their own
• Have a basis for better communication to create and/or improve alignment on the actual and entire scope of the project, including the multiple project objectives of all involved stakeholders

Language

English

Requirements

Participants would require their own laptop and a stable high-speed internet connection to take part in this course.

Target Group

This course is best suited for Project Managers, Engineers & Assessment Professionals who:

• have 5 or more years of experience in mining,
• want to avoid re-work &/or change requests stemming from external stakeholders,
• desire a better means to communicate and manage the complexities and system-based risks associated with mining developments