Impact Project

Towards territorial development in Peru's mining regions
- Building trust through dialogue

Mining continues to shape livelihoods and regional development across Peru. How its benefits, risks, and decisions are shared is central to building trust and creating long-term value. In Chumbivilcas and Pasco, communities, public authorities, and mining actors bring different experiences and expectations, making dialogue an important tool for addressing concerns and identifying shared priorities.

The Challenge

Aligning Responsible Mining with Territorial Development

Copper and other transition minerals are central to the global energy transition. While mining generates revenues and opportunities, it also brings responsibilities around human rights, environmental stewardship, meaningful engagement, public planning, and the role of mining investment in supporting a shared territorial vision. 

OUR APPROACH

Fostering Common Ground Through Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue

Together with our strategic partners, we support structured multi-stakeholder processes that combine territorial baselines, capacity building, interregional learning, and practical dialogue tools. Guided by neutral territorial facilitators who build trust and bridge sectors, these processes prepare actors for informed, legitimate, and sustained participation in territorial governance.

THE CHANGE WE SEEK

A Shared Vision and Roadmap for Territorial Development

Inclusive dialogue helps companies, authorities and communities build trust, identify shared priorities and shape a territorial development vision that can become a roadmap with agreed roles, shared responsibilities and practical steps. Baseline findings show strong support for this approach: most stakeholders consulted believe territorial decisions should be made jointly by authorities, organized communities, companies and institutions, not by any single actor alone.

WHAT This Means

  • For mining companies:  
    Better understanding of local priorities, stronger risk management, and more responsible business practices.
  • For public authorities: A stronger role in, coordinating, and sustaining dialogue spaces and linking agreements to better public planning, and governance. 
  • For mining-affected communities: 
    A stronger voice in decisions affecting their territories and livelihoods.

3 Early Stage Results

Territorial analysis as entry point

Baseline work in Chumbivilcas Province, Cusco, and the Pasco Region helped build a deeper understanding of each territory’s economic, social, and environmental context by mapping key stakeholders, dialogue spaces, risks, and opportunities. This process helped identify where coordination, representation, and trust-building efforts should be focused.

Capacity-building strengthened dialogue readiness

The training processes engaged 50 leaders in Chumbivilcas and 53 in Pasco, strengthening skills for territorial understanding, participation, actor analysis, and collaborative problem-solving.

Peer learning through interregional exchange

An interregional workshop, "Connecting Leadership, Weaving Alliances," brought together 57 actors from civil society, public, and private sectors, giving participants from Chumbivilcas and Pasco the opportunity to learn directly from the dialogue experiences of actors in Cajamarca and Moquegua.

Project Timeline

September 2026 // Establishing the core group

Stakeholder representatives agree on roles, responsibilities, and working arrangements for the dialogue process.

June 2026 // A new phase began

Planning and implementation of the dialogue process.

November 2025 // Capacity-Building in Pasco

Workshops covered territorial development, governance, environment, water, human rights, sustainability, cultural diversity, and responsible business conduct.

August 2025 // Capacity-Building in Chumbivilcas

Training strengthened territorial understanding, participation, advocacy tools, and trust-building.

“There’s a lack of promoting dialogue among stakeholders (…) There is an absence of consensus-building, dialogue, and negotiation to reach a mutual benefit. We need to bring in more stakeholders to start this debate and continue building consensus.”

June 2025 // Peer Learning through Interregional Exchange

Chumbivilcas and Pasco actors learned from Cajamarca and Moquegua dialogue experiences.

September–October 2024 // Project Started with Baseline Work

Key actors, dialogue spaces, risks, opportunities, and entry points were identified in both territories.

Community representatives in Chumbivilcas during a Territory in Dialogue workshop on participation and territorial development.

Implementing partner

The impact project is developed in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), building on previous RIMAY-related experiences in Peru, including subnational dialogue processes in Cajamarca and Moquegua.

Additional partners

Contact MARS staff at NIR

Henrik Hallgren Programme Director
Andres Hernandez Regional Programme Manager
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This executive summary presents the findings from the study “Workplace Cooperation: Finding Practical Solutions in the Colombian Context,” conducted by the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP). The study evaluates the added value of the Swedish Workplace Programme (SWP) dialogue and cooperation model within the Colombian labor market.

Throughout 2022, FIP dedicated efforts to thoroughly understand the SWP model, including its concept, foundations, implementation process, and contributions to the labor market. In 2023, FIP documented the experiences of three companies—SKF Latin Trade, Securitas, and Epiroc—that implemented the SWP model in practice. The study also included face-to-face workshops to gather feedback from various stakeholders including civil society, businesses, government, academia, and international cooperation. The findings suggest that the SWP model has the potential to strengthen labor relations, contribute to decent work, and resolve workplace conflicts in Colombia.

The case studies highlight the importance of collaboration between employers and workers to promote decent work and sustainable development in Colombia. They demonstrate that social dialogue facilitates worker participation in labor decision-making, enhances their representativeness, and promotes cooperation between employers and employees, thus improving labor relations and contributing to the well-being of both employees and companies.

The SWP model is particularly noted for improving workplace relationships and commitment to jointly finding solutions to challenges faced by workers and the company. It empowers workers, enhances leadership, and helps integrate business policies into daily practices, reducing the initial disconnect between management objectives and the day-to-day realities of workers. The study also highlights the model’s capacity to manage conflicts constructively, transforming the perception of conflict as an opportunity for improvement. Structured dialogues deepen understanding of the underlying causes of conflicts, fostering empathy and facilitating effective resolution. This promotes a culture of collaboration and a democratic approach to decision-making, building trust.

Additionally, the model is recognized for enabling workers to make decisions, identify challenges, and propose solutions that impact their well-being, and bridging gender gaps in the workplace. Its inclusive approach adapts to the unique needs and characteristics of each company, promoting a stronger and more diverse organizational culture. It also drives good work performance and productivity by involving workers in problem identification and resolution, as well as in implementing improvements and efficiently identifying ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risks for companies.

The document identifies the SWP model’s added value in empowering direct interaction among labor stakeholders in Colombia, overcoming historical or cultural reservations, and contributing to the development of stronger labor relations and improved workplace environments in the country.

Challenges and opportunities of the model are also discussed. The study points out the importance of addressing value chain risks, particularly in a global context where corporate clients demand decent work processes and due diligence. It emphasizes the need to integrate SMEs into this process and use anchor companies as drivers of social dialogue throughout the value chain. The role of the state in social dialogue and the importance of highlighting the benefits of the model for adoption across various business sectors are discussed.

The opportunities of the model include raising awareness of human rights in the workplace in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP), to strengthen due diligence, manage risks, promote long-term sustainability, and improve organizational culture. The document also underscores the importance of involving workers in change processes, leveraging their insights for continuous improvement of processes, and fostering innovation opportunities. Lastly, it suggests replicating the model in value chains to address work environment risks and gender biases, involving suppliers and contractors, and integrating the model into corporate policies to strengthen existing programs and transform organizational culture towards resource efficiency and effective participation of employers and workers.