●      The specialist highlighted the importance of territorial development for closing gaps in key sectors such as education, infrastructure, water and sanitation, especially given the country’s current situation.

The principal investigator of the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP), Carolina Trivelli, added to the analysis of territorial development —a work approach proposed by the industry through PERUMIN—by stating that there are five key points to understanding this issue.

As part of her presentation during the first day of the event Rumbo a PERUMIN “Territorial Development: A Challenge to Closing Social Gaps,” Trivelli highlighted,  among the five key aspects, the importance of the territory as a socially constructed space in which there are relationships among stakeholders at an economic, social, and cultural level.

Along the same lines, she said that it is vital to identify authorities and leaders of  the different sectors who perform functions and have different levels of power and influence,  and are located in different districts, provinces, and regions across the country.

Furthermore, the former ministry of Development and Social Inclusion explained that we must consider economic diversification of the territory and its different degrees of integration into the market, as well as the various degrees of social cohesion.

“It is important to identify these bases in order to understand territorial development. Thus, especially in our country, we should know that there are different degrees of inequality, as well as institutions with different capabilities and resources,” stressed Trivelli.

On the other hand, the investigator also mentioned that there are challenges that the country must face in order to work on its development with a territorial development approach. Among these challenges, she underscored the need to set action and investment prioritization schemes to pool resources that aid its implementation.

“What we currently have is not enough. The roundtables for dialogue, development and direct negotiation should have a new approach. Territorial development can create new relationship routes, which is an opportunity we must explore. We must clearly understand that a territorial approach offers new possibilities for rearticulating the relationship between mining and local communities,” said Trivelli.

Rumbo a PERUMIN

Rumbo a PERUMIN is an initiative by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP) and the Executive Committee of PERUMIN 36. It involves an agenda of virtual activities that seek to create spaces for analysis, knowledge, and debate related to mining.