COVID-19 has placed critical raw material supply chains under severe pressure, yet opens opportunities which could be filled in by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Many of the opportunities will also enable the MSMEs to make significant contributions in sustainable resource management, building resiliency and the progress towards the circular economy in the predicted economic recovery worldwide. However, the economic disruptions have also brought in new challenges, which require innovative solutions. Application of United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) and United Nations Resource Management System (UNRMS) in sustainable resource management can be useful for MSMEs to build innovative business models and gain from the new avenues that are being opened.
The webinar will focus on opportunities and challenges for MSMEs involved in critical raw material supplies in response to COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic economic recovery, focusing on:
- Critical raw materials and security of supply
- Application of UNFC and UNRMS
- Circular economy principles
Press release: UNECE issues guidelines and best practices for small businesses in critical raw material supply to assure post-COVID-19 resilience
Programme
- Welcome and Overview of MSME Surge Project overview – Oleg Dzioubinski, Regional Advisor Energy, UNECE
- Introduction of the study and link to UNFC/UNRMS – Harikrishnan Tulsidas, Economic Affairs Officer, UNECE
- Topic introduction & context – Michael Haschke, Director of Innovation, DMT, Germany
- Guidelines and best practices for MSMEs in sustainable resource management – Hartwig Gielisch, DMT, Germany
- Q&A, Discussions and Summary
- Closing remarks – Harikrishnan Tulsidas.
Workshop report: Read here
Trainers
Michael Haschke is Director of Innovation & EU Relations at DMT Group. DMT is Germany’s largest mining engineering & consulting company. Michael holds a doctoral degree with distinction from FU Berlin, Germany, and a MSc degree in Geology from the University of Albany, New York, USA. He has 25 years of experience in R&D and mining consulting from positions in USA, UK, South Africa, Israel, and Germany. Michael is an accredited Competent Person for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves at the European Federation of Geologists (EFG), member of the Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) network at the European Parliament, the Coal Advisory Group (CAG) and EURACOAL in Brussels, expert of the UNECE Resource Management Group in Geneva, and advisor to the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) in Pretoria, South Africa.
Hartwig Gielisch is an Exploration Geologist and studied at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. Since more than 20 years he works as Geologist and Exploration Manager in natural resource exploration projects. He is a qualified/competent person for natural resource estimation reports and registered as European Geologist (Certificate No. 752) with the European Federation of Geologists EFG, Brussels, Belgium. Since 2006, he mainly works in India, and works closely with Coal India Ltd.
Recording
Video-recording of the Online Training Workshop on Guidelines and best practices for MSMEs to assure resiliency and progress towards a circular economy in sustainable resource management and critical raw material supply chain solutions, 8 October 2020