The general population typically has a very low level of knowledge about the importance of metals and minerals for a sustainable world, and what the mining industry in Sweden and the world looks like.
Metals4U+ is a continuation of the Metals4U project and was created to give a better understanding of the origin of metals and minerals, what we use them for and an improved dialogue about why we need mines. The project runs between 2021-2024.
“This is a unique platform for collaboration between different stakeholders and now we have a huge network that are super excited to continue the work with this important challenge.”
Stefan Sädbom, Project manager, Bergskraft.
The idea of the full-scale project is to create geo-environments that describe the mineral industry in a neutral yet appealing way for young people. This will show them the importance of having a sustainable mineral industry, how broad it is and how closely linked it is to their everyday lives. This is being done through the establishment of artworks related to local and/or regional metal and mineral processing as well as the development of a learning portal with educational material about metals and mining. Also, digital tools are being developed to help teaching about mineral raw materials in schools.
Another example of project activities is a podcast serie where a 10 year old boy travels through Sweden visiting different mine sites and interviews with people connected to the companies visited. There will be conversations about Minecraft and the role of the mine together with the Research Manager at Boliden Mines, how you move a whole town with the Urban Planning Officer at Kiruna municipality, searching for lithium in Västerbotten together with a researcher from Luleå University of Technology, watching drill rig Transformer video together with R&D manager digital solutions at Epiroc, and many more. You can find the podcast on the website for Bergskraft and Metals4U+ and on other podcast apps from the beginning of December 2023.
Read the final report for the pre-study, Metals4U (in Swedish):
slutrapport-metals4u-2020-10-02.pdf (bergskraft.se)