Task 3 – Prioritise SED elements of a thriving community

Through the prioritisation process, sites should identify which elements most effectively improve the well-being of affected communities, as well as create business value. As illustrated in Figure 4A.1, fifteen “elements” of a Thriving Community have been identified. These elements can be grouped into four categories and are described in more detail in Table 4A.4.

TABLE 4A.4 SED categories and elements

Category	Element	Description
Living conditions	Employment*	Entrepreneurship, job creation and employment security are the most immediate ways to reduce poverty (see SDG 8). ‘Employment’ refers to all the ways that people use their time to support themselves and their households to acquire income and the skills development needed to make improvements. Work can be categorised into paid labour/jobs where an individual works for a wage, and enterprise where individuals and households sell goods and services (ranging from trading, selling value-added goods, offering services, selling surpluses from subsistence production).
	Education and skills*	Obtaining a quality education and skills underpins a range of fundamental development drivers (see SDG 4). This element covers participation in, and effectiveness of, all levels of education (primary, secondary, tertiary, and adult), including the quality of education (teacher training), curriculum enhancement (rote vs critical thinking, science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM) courses), adult literacy, access to education, addressing barriers to student participation in education, and physical education infrastructure.
	Health and well-being*	Good health is essential to sustainable development (see SDG 3). Community health looks at the incidence of disease and illness (major and minor), vaccination, access to treatment, the balance between self-treatment vs traditional medicine vs Western medicine, knowledge, attitudes and practices of people regarding their health, mental health issues, and how to improve health infrastructure.
	Finance	Finance covers the availability and accessibility of financial products for host communities (e.g., access to credit through micro-finance and insurance), as well as people’s understanding of money and related issues, including financial literacy, personal financial management, debt and investment habits.
	Food security	Access to sufficient, good-quality and nutritious food is fundamental to human existence. Secure access to food can produce wide-ranging positive impacts, including: human well-being, economic growth and job creation (see SDG 2). Food security looks at the availability, access, utilisation and stability of food as critical precursors to SED.
Quality of life	Housing	Housing provides a cornerstone for household security, shelter and safety and considers factors such as: quality and affordability of materials used; construction standards; modernity of facilities (kitchens and toilets); and comforts, including people per room, climate management, and furniture and appliances (see SDG 11).
	Water and sanitation	Water scarcity, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation all have a negative effect on food security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities for poor families across the world (see SDG 6). Similar to food security, water covers the availability, access, utilisation, and stability of water for individuals. Sanitation is closely linked to heath and water and covers individual, household and public cleanliness, use of septic systems, and public and household solid-waste management.
	Energy	Energy is a critical element in individual and household productivity and safety (see SDG 6). Energy considers access, affordability, utilisation, efficiency and cleanliness of energy sources available to households and communities. It includes specific areas, such as access to grid services, uptake of household and community solar solutions, off-grid energy solutions, and energy sources for heating and cooking.
	Connectivity	It has long been recognised that growth in productivity and incomes as well as improvements in health and education outcomes require investment in infrastructure (see SDG 9). Connectivity looks at what connects people with their resources, including roads, internet and phone-network access, access to information (market, price, technical assistance), and access to, and quality of, physical market spaces.
	Environment	The natural environment plays a key role for socio-economic development and the quality of life of communities (see SDGs 6 (water), 7 (energy), 11 & 12 (pollution) and 14 & 15 (biodiversity). Environment looks at how to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change caused by controllable or uncontrollable factors.
Social cohesion	Support networks	Support networks provide a key element in individual, household, and group resilience. They connect people with opportunities and resources and can work against vulnerability and marginalisation, especially of women (see SDGs 3 and 5). Consider bridging (strength of connections within family, including distant family), bonding (strength of connections between families), and linking (strength of communities and connections between communities) within communities in the context of the site.
	Safety and security	By 2050, two-thirds of the world will be urban. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our spaces, including making them safe and secure (see SDG 11). Safety and security consider how individuals, groups, and communities can be ‘free from fear’ and how this supports attainment in other elements. This can include absence of theft, absence of gender- or ethnic- or identity-based violence, peace and stability, conflict management and resolution.
	Community and citizenship	Citizen participation in community life provides a platform for communities to help themselves and to play a proactive role in SED planning and implementation. This includes citizen participation in decision-making, in-kind contributions to projects, community clean-up and landscape improvement, self-help groups and citizen attitudes and behaviours (social contract; community-minded) to self-sufficiency.
Civic engagement	Transparency and rule of law	Sustainable development cannot be achieved without peace, stability, human rights and effective governance, based on the rule of law (see SDG 16). Transparency and the rule of law consider the interplay between levels of government and communities as they work to achieve SED goals. This includes community access to justice for all (ensuring due process and establishing remedies for the violation of rights), accountability of authorities and institutions and transparency (including openness of expenditure, receipt and usage of royalties and taxes paid by the site).
	Institutional capacity	Institutional capacity building is a fundamental precondition if many of the SDGs are to be achieved (see SDG 16). Institutional capacity considers how improvements in the skills, competencies, resources, and mindset of local authorities can contribute to improving socio-economic development outcomes for communities. This can include technical knowledge, working skills and habits, computer literacy, numeracy, problem-solving, availability of budgets, and human resources.
	Participation/ engagement	Collaboration and partnership are central to achievement of the SDGs (see SDG 17). Similar to citizen participation, government engagement looks at government openness to community participation and representation of all elements of society, and active organisation of community participation in planning and implementation of activities aimed at improving socio-economic outcomes.

* These elements are linked to specific goals of the Sustainable Mining Plan

The SED Element Priority Matrix (see 4A.4 Tools and Guidance Notes) is designed to help prioritise SED elements based on the following drivers, of which some are mandatory while others are voluntary or considerations for planning (refer to the SED Element Priority Setting Matrix for more details on prioritisation and selection):

Legal and licensing requirements. Legal and licensing requirements should be listed by SED element. This may include specific SED projects or more general requirements; for example, to obtain a certain percentage of local employment. Sites are obliged to implement all legal and licensing requirements related to SED.
Group-level commitments. Group-level commitments such as the stretch goals of the Sustainable Mining Plan and CRD must be listed by SED element. The Sustainable Mining Plan stretch goals should be listed in the employment, education and skills, and health and well-being elements and are mandatory for all sites unless an exception has been determined.
SHIRA controls. Where SED projects are identified as a control to manage risks to the business or to manage social and human rights impacts on local communities, sites should list these controls by SED element. Controls may be generic (i.e. maximise local procurement opportunities) or specific (i.e. implement a road safety awareness campaign to improve local driving habits). Sites are required to implement all controls (including SED projects) identified in SHIRA/the Baseline WRAC (see Section 3C).
Existing commitments. Existing CRD initiatives and SED project commitments to external stakeholders, such as local communities and/or local authorities, should be listed by SED element. This may include specific SED projects or more general commitments, for example to maximise local employment. Sites should not make voluntary SED-related commitments unless the element, project, or activity committed to contributes to the desired outcomes (see 4A Task 2) and long-term objectives. Existing SED commitments should be reviewed to ensure they contribute to the desired outcomes. Where this is not the case, sites should assess whether it is possible to discontinue the SED commitment and substitute it with a more effective one. Where existing commitments contribute to the desired outcomes or where discontinuation is not possible, sites must deliver on their existing commitments.
Community priorities. Sites should identify which elements are a priority for community development and why, and what the community perceptions are of the importance of the various elements. Elements that are deemed key for community development should be prioritised over other elements.
Government priorities. Sites should identify which elements are a priority in local, regional and national government development plans and describe any existing government initiatives for each element. Government capacity to support projects related to each element should be assessed. Elements that are a priority in government development plans, and elements for which government support capacity is strong, should be prioritised over other elements.
Site plans and activities. Sites should identify if there are any site plans or activities that could be used to leverage an SED project related to a certain element, such as shared infrastructure or local-content opportunities. Elements that include opportunities to leverage site activities should be prioritised over other elements.
Prior context and level of difficulty. Sites should consider the prior context when considering projects related to each element. This includes a review of similar projects implemented by the site or the development sector more generally as well as examples of successful projects. This allows to identify critical success factors, key risks and challenges in order to avoid similar pitfalls as well as to estimate expected value/impact.
Partnerships and collaboration. Sites should identify if there are any ongoing NGO, development institution, and/or other company CRD initiatives and SED projects related to each element in the area of influence, and list opportunities for co-funding or collaboration by element. Elements for which the potential for co-funding and effective partnerships is high should be prioritised over other elements.
Cost and timelines. Sites should assess, at a high level, the anticipated budget and estimated timelines needed to make a positive impact in relation to each element. Elements that do not require a disproportionate share of the budget are able to positively impact a large number of people and do not require long timelines to show first impact should generally be prioritised over other elements. However, this might not apply to CRD-led projects that normally take longer to implement.
Unintended consequences. Sites should assess whether there could be any unintended consequences associated with each element. This includes considerations about dependency (i.e. whether a focus on this element is likely to increase dependency on the site) and corruption (i.e. whether activities within this element are particularly susceptible to corruption). Elements with no associated unintended consequences should be prioritised over other elements.
Vulnerability, inclusion and diversity. Sites should assess issues related to vulnerability, inclusion and diversity for each element. Will focus on a certain element disproportionately benefit a certain population group? Will vulnerable people be able to access SED benefits? Elements that do not disproportionately benefit certain population groups and that benefit vulnerable people should be prioritised over other elements.

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Task 3 – Prioritise SED elements of a thriving community

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