The Investment Protection Rules of the EU-Canada Trade Agreement

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the substantive protection provided to investors against indirect expropriations under the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement (ceta) and under the Constitution of Finland. More specifically, we analyse these respective spheres of protection in a regulatory context in Finland where Canadian investors operate actively: industrial mining. The purpose of the comparative analysis is to provide tentative answers to three broad research questions: Can investors challenge legitimate public interest measures under ceta’s investment protection rules? Is the protection provided under ceta co-extensive with the protection provided under the constitutions of countries placing high on global rule of law rankings? And are countries upholding the rule of law safe from investor claims under ceta’s reformed investment protection rules? A more general purpose is to bring more depth and nuance into the debates concerning the reform of the investment treaty regime, which often travel at a high level of abstraction.

Neural network architecture for outputting solutions in dangerous situations at a complex technological facility

Preventing and neutralize dangerous situations tasks are relevant in the operation of complex technological objects. Complex technological objects present, in particular, in the support city systems (heat, water, energy, gas supply systems), at large industrial, mining, or processing enterprises. The development of dangerous situations at such facilities can lead to undesirable or even catastrophic consequences. The decision-making process to neutralize (prevent) an emerging dangerous situation is aimed at finding an action program that should transfer the current emergency situation into a target, standard situation. The article examines the possibility of implementing a case-based reasoning method for retrieving a solution using a neural network in order to prevent and neutralize dangerous situations at a complex technological object of city infrastructure. The authors consider the situation as a set of elements states of a complex object and the relationships between elements. To solve the tasks, the work examines two neural network architectures: a model that builds upon the multilayer perceptron and the "comparator - adder" architecture.Experiments have shown that the proposed neural network architecture "comparator - adder" showed higher accuracy than the multilayer perceptron for the considered tasks of comparing situations. The obtained result continues the well-known research in the integration of machine learning methods and methods of knowledge-based systems field. It serves as the basis for the further development of decision inference hybrid models for intelligent control of complex objects.

Hygienic assessment of personnel working conditions in underground uranium mining

The aim of the study is to assess the main radiation-hazardous factors that determine the effective dose of personnel during underground uranium mining at the Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association, and to summarize the data of the radiation control of the enterprise for 2016-2020. The main factors that create personnel dose loads are: the volume activity of short-lived daughter products of radon decay in the air, the dose rate of external gamma radiation, and the volume activity of long-lived alpha-emitting radionuclides of the uranium-radium series in industrial dust. Information on the structure and values of individual effective doses of workers is presented. Recommendations for improving the radiation monitoring system are given.

“It Is Like We Are Living in a Different World”: Health Inequity in Communities Surrounding Industrial Mining Sites in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Tanzania

Background: Health equity features prominently in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet there are wide disparities in health between and within countries. In settings of natural resource extraction (e.g., industrial mines), the health of surrounding communities is affected through myriad changes in the physical, social, and economic environment. How changes triggered by such projects translate into health inequities is poorly understood. Methods: This qualitative study explores potential layers of inequities by systematically coding perceived inequities of affected communities. Drawing on the framework method, we thematically analyzed data from 83 focus group discussions, which enrolled 791 participants from 10 study sites in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Results: Participants perceived inequities related to their individual characteristics, intermediate factors acting on the community level, and structural conditions. Due to environmental pollution and land loss, participants were concerned about unsecured livelihoods. Positive impacts, such as job opportunities at the mine, remained scarce for local communities and were claimed not to be equally distributed among community members. Conclusion: Extractive industries bear considerable risks to widen existing health gaps. In order to create equal opportunities among affected populations, the wider determinants of health must be considered more explicitly in the licensing process of resource extraction projects.

‘The whole of Shirebrook got put on an ASBO’: The co-production of territorial stigma in a former colliery town

This paper draws on data collected from a multimethod ethnographic study to contribute to debates on the production of territorial stigmatisation through the analysis of Shirebrook, UK: a small post-industrial mining town in Derbyshire, which now houses the distribution centre and warehouse of Sports Direct, recently the subject of high-profile scrutiny in the UK over working conditions. Combining semi-structured interviews, participant observation and the analysis of documentary sources, I argue that the territorial stigmatisation of Shirebrook does not emanate from a single source. Rather, multiple institutions and agents converge in the co-production of stigma. The analysis draws attention to local antagonisms and hierarchies in the production of stigma, demonstrating how relatively powerful actors ‘below’ do not simply resist or deflect stigma onto less powerful others, but influence the way that territorial stigma operates, problematising Wacquant's top-down conceptualisation.

Industrial ecosystem and revitalization of brownfields

The creation of climate-neutral industrial ecosystems based on digital leadership determines the movement of advanced countries towards competitiveness on the global stage. Industrial ecosystems of most regions of Ukraine are characterized by a low technological level of key industries and lack of organizational routines that can ensure their transition to a higher technological and resource-efficient level. The problem of forming a modern policy in the field of revitalization of abandoned areas of former industrial use (brownfields), in particular in the field of industrial waste processing, needs an urgent solution. The article is aimed at highlighting the theoretical foundations and practical aspects of creating a new industrial path through the revitalization of brownfields in underdeveloped industrial ecosystems on the example of old industrial mining regions. The paper proposes the use of a bricolage approach to create a new path of development of old industrial mining regions. This approach focuses not on the breakthrough development of the new industry, which is almost impossible in the conditions of insufficient development of industrial ecosystems, but on the gradual process of strategic cooperation of many participants (local and non-local enterprises, research institutes, local authorities, community, national and regional authorities, other stakeholders), coordination and pooling of resources at different levels, which will eventually have to evolve together, thus leading to a favorable institutional environment for the new industry. The establishment of an enterprises for the processing of coal preparation within the framework of the brownfield revitalization project is a kind of a kludge, the temporary adaptation of the community to the complex socio-economic and environmental situation, which is a consequence of the cessation of intensive coal mining, which will make it possible to create new routines of business behavior of institutions and citizens, the best of which in the process of evolutionary selection will be able to adapt to the new challenges of global technological transformations in industry and ecology. The practical implementation of the given approach is primarily represented in the creation of special institutions that are alternatives to the institutional traps of industrial development on the principles of the circular economy and relate to the introduction of more strict measures when implementing European waste management standards in national legislation and additional taxes that force enterprises to recycle waste; emergence of special enterprises (scavengers and decomposers) that use new effective disposal measures to restore and further use brownfields; creation of special community development corporations that promote economic development and environmental sustainability of the territory and ensure broad community participation in the creation of initiatives and decision-making; use of opportunities for Ukrainian integration in the field of innovation, science and education under the Association Agreement signed with the European Union in order to make effective decisions on the revitalization of brownfields.

Armed Groups and Mining

The relationship between armed groups and mining is complex. Reports of armed interference in mining are provided by the United Nations (UN) Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and reported in the literature, including which groups have been found to operate in which areas. Academic analysis finds the presence of industrial mining companies reinforces the power of politico-military entrepreneurs. This rapid review found a relatively large body of literature on the issue of armed groups and mining. Articles are a mix of academic literature and agency report prioritised based on relevance to the question, date, and location. The complexity of the issue requires broader investigation than is possible within the scope of a K4D helpdesk.

Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Human Breast Milk from Industrial/Mining and Agricultural Zones of Southeastern Spain

Human breast milk is the most complete foodstuff for infants but can also be a potential source of exposure to toxic chemicals. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of metal pollution in the breast milk of women living in agricultural and industrial/mining areas of the Region of Murcia (Spain) that are well known for their cases of environmental pollution. Human milk samples were collected from 50 mothers and inorganic contaminants were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean or maximum concentrations of the different inorganic elements analyzed in breast milk, with the exception of manganese, exceeded the maximum limits established by the WHO and could constitute a high risk for pregnant mothers and their children. The breast milk of women living in the industrial/mining zone presented the highest levels of aluminum, zinc, arsenic, lead, mercury and nickel. On the contrary, the highest concentrations of manganese, chromium and iron were determined in the milk of women living in the agricultural zone. These results suggested and confirmed different profiles of environmental contamination of these areas.