Sand i antropocen: risker och möjligheter för global hållbarhet

Sand is the planet’s most mined mineral and a fundamental feature of modern society.

While sand resources are renewable to a certain degree, todays’ exploding demand far exceeds the rate at which they can naturally be replenished.

Sand mining also increasingly creates negative environmental and social externalities by eroding the marine and terrestrial ecosystems upon which communities depend.

Yet research on this Anthropocene challenge is very limited, precise data on sand extraction and use are lacking, and no framework to evaluate and promote the sustainability of sand has been proposed.

This project brings together a transdisciplinary team to develop a systemic understanding of the interlinked socio-economic, ecological and geological dimensions associated with sand, and identify levers for its sustainable management.

Through the production of systems, target and transformation knowledge, we will: (1) assess how much, where, by who and for what purpose sand is being extracted and traded; (2) develop participatory scenarios with diverse stakeholders across the sand value chain to envision sustainable sand futures; and (3) identify leverage points at the science-policy-practice interface for sustainable and equitable transformation of the sector.

A cornerstone of this project will be to inform the implementation processes of the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on Mineral Resource Governance.