ASI / IPAF bauxite mining workshops in Guinea: Knowledge and empowerment for 121 local communities
ASI and IPAF led local language workshops on bauxite mining cycle and rehabilitation, reaching over 5,000 attendees in 121 communities across Boke and Kindia regions.
28 August 2024
Phase 1: Training the trainers
In collaboration with local community partners and Indigenous People’s Advisory Forum (IPAF) members, ASI (Aluminium Stewardship Initiative) organised and delivered train-the-trainer workshops to support the delivery of capacity-building workshops in the bauxite mining regions of Boke and Kindia. The workshops focused on bauxite mine development and were aimed at giving the trainees a better understanding of the mining life cycle, and the steps and players involved. The trained facilitators then went on to hold effective workshops in Guinea’s local communities in key bauxite mining regions. The project, including training of the trainers and the delivery of workshops, started in September 2023 and was completed in March 2024.
Local Language Workshops on Bauxite Mining Cycle and Rehabilitation reached over 5,000 men, women and youth in 121 Communities Across Boke and Kindia Regions
Community meeting in the region of Boke
The workshops’ key objective was to provide trainees with a more informed understanding of bauxite mine development, including all associated facilities such as railway haulage and ports, in support of more effective participation of local communities in bauxite mining development. Local Indigenous community-led workshops in Australia provided some lessons and practices to help inform the Guinea workshop approach, adapted to that context. ASI’s earlier Guinea-based qualitative research had provided additional insights into local/rural communities’ perceptions and aspirations in the key bauxite mining regions.
The workshops were led by national consultants and ASI experts who trained IPAF members to become trainers, who would then train Guinea local community members and local representatives on the mining bauxite life cycle, including mine site rehabilitation. The residential model train-the-trainer workshops were held in Conakry, Kamsar, Sangaredi, and Kindia, in both French and English. In the subsequent community workshops, trainees delivered these in local languages including Fulani, Sussu, Mandingo and Poular.
The train-the-trainer model included an intensive adaptive learning approach that started with a capacity-building framework. The first phase included a three-day program led by Guinea ASI Registered Specialists Dr Telli Diallo and Mr Wahab Diakhaby, with support and input from ASI’s Community Engagement and Development Manager, Dr Penda Diallo. In the second stage, the IPAF members participated in a seven-day residential training program led and facilitated by Dr Penda Diallo and Mark Annandale, ASI Director of Research and IPAF Adviser. The third stage included the final workshop materials developed in a poster format to help guide local community workshops and provide local communities with information describing the stages of bauxite development. The IPAF trainees applied their skills through the delivery of workshops to local communities with support from Dr Penda Diallo, assisted by Mr Mohamed Sankhon, the Workshop Project Facilitator and local community leader from Kamsar.
The workshops described the stages of bauxite mine development using an easy to follow poster format. Click to access a pdf version.
Phase 2: Workshop rollout to local Guinean communities
The 14 trained IPAF members then delivered workshops across 121 villages, reaching over 5000 men, women, and youth within Guinea’s two core bauxite regions.
In the local communities, the workshops were delivered in the local languages, including Fulani, Sussu, Mandingo, and Poular.
The workshop participants understood the workshop’s goals, and the workshops were well received. During closing remarks, community members expressed their appreciation for the workshops, with many offering prayers for the ongoing workshops. Most communities highlighted that the information offered during the workshops will empower them for future and ongoing engagement in bauxite mining development activities.
Workshops gave communities an opportunity to discuss concerns
During the workshops, communities raised concerns regarding the lack of compensation and proper rehabilitation efforts, and the lack of employment, local business, and other benefits from mining activities. The need for improved communication, community engagement, and addressing community concerns was highlighted. The local communities raised several complaints, including the need for road maintenance, (water) well drilling, agricultural land restoration, and local employment opportunities. Sometimes, communities also expressed frustration, desire for improved infrastructure and well-being, and underscored the need to both reduce impacts from mining operations and gain more opportunities from the bauxite mining going on around their communities.
Get insights into the project, its outcomes, lessons learned and communities' perceptions of the workshops in this overview video (in French with English subtitles). Click to access the video.
Empowering local communities: Lessons Learned and communities’ requests for sustainable development projects
After the conclusion of the series of workshops, the project team met in March 2024 in Kamsar to reflect on lessons learned and determine the next steps. The main recommendations included implementing tangible projects to improve communities’ livelihoods and well-being, enhance peaceful dispute resolution, and offer practical mine site rehabilitation experience. The communities have appreciated the workshops provided by IPAF. However, they have expressed the need for more support in the development of sustainable projects. These communities have requested IPAF to share their demand widely as an invitation to any stakeholder who is interested in supporting local community development in Guinea and abroad. The IPAF members identified three practical project ideas based on local community feedback gathered in the workshops. To participants, any stakeholders who want to support local communities should ensure that the proposed activities support one or more of their priority areas:
- improving access to clean drinking water (including reducing impacts from mining on all water resources),
- developing income-generating activities (including those associated from bauxite mining plus opportunities on mined land after mining operations), and
- creating grazing areas for livestock (including in mine rehabilitation areas after mining and in areas where villages have been relocated).
Interested to get involved?
ASI continues to engage with local communities and our IPAF members. We welcome the collaboration of our members to help us support communities in addressing some of their needs, particularly in implementing practical training of local communities in mine site rehabilitation activities. To get involved, contact Mark Annandale, ASI Director of Research and IPAF Adviser.
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