• Fact sheet

    Name: CIRAN – CrItical RAw materials extraction in enviroNmentally protected areas
    Program: Horizon Europe
    Budget: EUR 2 291 975
    Duration: 36 months 01/01/2023- 31/12/2025

  • About the project

    CIRAN will develop, test and validate processes to arrive at systemic policy-making, balancing environmental protection and societal needs for accessing critical raw materials (CRMs). This will be achieved through: 1) streamlined permitting procedures in environmentally protected areas; 2) modern policies and social contract frameworks that reconcile the protection of environmentally sensitive areas and domestic sourcing of CRMs in the EU; and 3) the development of a community of practice to support the uptake of the CIRAN recommendation and that will remain active after the project funding period.

    CIRAN proposes a logical framework that justifies extraction on the basis of a system-oriented assessment and the co-creation of knowledge (i.e. tested and validated by communities located in or nearby environmentally protected areas). It will create novel social contract models identifying rights, obligations and responsibilities of governments (national/regional), communities and mine operators, capable of dealing with transformations and challenges due to climate change.

    As a distinctive feature, CIRAN brings together 25 external experts on the environmental, political, social, economic, and technological factors that will shape the energy transition responses and the demand for CRMs. These experts, organised in four Expert Groups (EGs), will work with the Consortium, conveying insights on policy-making and -implementation, economic drivers, technologies, mining, local governance, social capital, nature conservation and biodiversity. The EGs will actively engage in CIRAN through synergetic processes combining analysis and deliberation, and participation in project workshops and structured consultations (e.g. focus groups, foresight analysis).

  • Our role in the project

    LPRC contributes to the project mainly through Tasks 3.3 (Nexus between policy decisions and drivers of change) and 7.1 (Communication and outreach). LPRC also contributes to other tasks on stakeholder engagement, such as the development of the CIRAN Forum.

  • More information

    LPRC contact: Ariadna Ortega (ariadna.ortega@lapalmacentre.eu)
    CIRAN Website: https://ciranproject.eu