Science, Innovation, and Political Ecology Intersection - Mining Extraction in West African Indigenous Territories

This guest lecture by Alessandra Manzini examines the complex challenges of achieving a just transition at the intersection of Science, Innovation, and Political Ecology, focusing on mining extraction in Indigenous territories along the West African coast. Explore how raw materials needed for global digital and energy transitions impact local communities through an analysis of key evaluation tools including Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), Hotspot Analysis, and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). Discover three empirical case studies from West Africa—Sanyang-Kartong, Niafrang-Abéné, and Varela/Ninquim—where extraction activities in sensitive agroecosystems face resistance from local activist groups. Learn how global policies seeking essential raw materials often disregard landscape protection laws, local consent, and environmental concerns, particularly in vulnerable coastal areas affected by climate change. Based on participatory action research with activists from Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau, the lecture questions the effectiveness of current assessment tools in evaluating the true environmental, social, and economic impacts of mining activities on Indigenous communities and their territories.