New national roadmap for a competitive and sustainable mining industry

Metal and minerals are crucial for coping with the green transition, and the mining nation Sweden is a pioneering country in sustainability. To secure our position – and show global leadership – a new strategic research and innovation agenda is now presented.

Facts Research and Innovation Agenda 2022

This is the fourth edition of the agenda since the first was published in 2013. The agenda was prepared in the autumn of 2022 by collecting a large amount of factual information, talks with representatives from industry, academia, authorities and the education system and a dozen open, structured workshops.

> Download the agenda here

The new agenda highlights the challenges that are most critical to invest research and innovation funds in, to meet the needs of the industry. Swedish Mining Innovation then bases its open calls on these.

– Access to sustainably produced metals and minerals is crucial for us to cope with the climate transition and create a sustainable society. They are needed to build new infrastructure, batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines and other things that enable green electricity supply, electrification and digitization. The agenda encapsulates the most important challenges to solve, and creates a clear direction for research and innovation work going forward, says Jenny Greberg, program director at Swedish Mining Innovation.

Identifies necessary societal reforms

The agenda also aims to provide decision-makers and politicians with a reliable and broad-based source of knowledge about the mining industry’s challenges and needs to be able to reduce climate impact and contribute to the climate transition and society at large.

– The Swedish mining industry is considered the most sustainable in the world, thanks to efficient production methods, lower emissions than the industry in comparable countries and a good working environment. At the same time, competition is intensifying and Sweden has a responsibility but at the same time a unique opportunity to show global leadership, says Katarina Nilsson, expert research and innovation at Svemin.

Gathers knowledge and needs

The research and innovation agenda aims to create a consensus on the needs and challenges that Sweden’s mining and metal mining industry faces. The agenda is based on a large amount of collected facts and is broadly rooted with almost 100 representatives from large parts of industry, leading universities and research institutes as well as authorities.

– Research and innovation collaboration are crucial to accelerate the adjustment that is necessary for the future. The agenda is a good example of the broad support and unity that is characteristic of Sweden as an innovation country and which means that we are at the forefront internationally, says Cecilia Sjöberg, Head of Industrial Development at Vinnova, the Swedish Innovation Authority.

The agenda has been developed by Swedish Mining Innovation and Svemin in collaboration with representatives from research, industry, authorities and non-profit associations.

The agenda was published on May 12 in connection with Swedish Mining Research & Innovation Day.