This study examines the four cases of World Heritage protected cultural landscapes in Europe that are characterized by mining in order to identify the role mining plays today in such cultural landscapes, the legal requirements for their protection, and also the exploration and exploitation in these areas and the differences that exist between the five European countries concerned. Using a qualitative comparative case study approach, the authors find that active mining is taking place in the Austrian case, and exploration is happening adjacent to the German/Czech protected cultural landscape. The legal protection of the cases is mainly based on heritage and monument protection legislation as well as environment protection legislation including the Natura 2000 network. Differences exist, as other than in Germany, exploration and mining could be allowed in protected areas, which is also contrary to the position of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and the International Council on Mining and Metals.

In mine design and planning, identifying appropriate Post-Mining Land Use (PMLU) is necessary and crucial to achieving environmental quality and socioeconomic renewal. In this context, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods are used to support decision-maker and stakeholder decisions. However, most studies regarding the application of MCDM methods to PMLU decisions do not favor their widespread use because they start from an already structured decisional problem. The structure they present may not apply to another PMLU decision. Therefore, the primary goal of this study is to present an innovative methodology and its corresponding framework to help decision-makers and stakeholders structure their PMLU decisions. This innovative methodology can be used from an early stage, with a low level of detail, until a later stage, with a high level of detail, and is composed of three main stages. The first stage is selecting the Transitional Post-Mining Landscape Profile, which guides the user to different Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) goals. The second stage is developing criteria and alternatives according to the MCDA goal, using topics representing essential dimensions that cannot be disregarded, and testing the MCDM methods. Finally, the third stage is the participatory process and final application of MCDM methods.

As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission recently launched the project “New European Bauhaus of the 21st Century” to promote climate-neutral, affordable, and creative design approaches and transform the built environment towards sustainability. Based on a forecasting and backcasting approach, we developed three sets of measures containing eighteen individual measures, with the overall aim of reducing the consumption of mineral raw materials in line with the sustainability strategies (consistency, efficiency, and sufficiency) from exploration through material processing, to semi-finished product production. The developed measures address in detail the reduction of primary raw material consumption, the increased use of secondary raw materials, and the intensification of access to important domestic raw material sources, as well as the efficiency and productivity progression of the Austrian raw material industry. The implementation of the measures will raise the transparency and traceability of raw material routes, material flows, and supply chains through improved and comprehensive data collection and processing. The developed measures were handed over to the Austrian Federal Government in February 2022 to push the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 in Austria.

Mineral resource policy deals not only with industrial and trade aspects but is nowadays also increasingly concerned with topics such as environmental protection and social development. The tensions associated with strongly divergent opinions among various stakeholder groups cast it as a ‘wicked problem’. The process of redeveloping the ‘Austrian Mineral Resources Strategy’ allows for examination of the different frames and identification of potential frame conflicts in consultation processes at the national level. Using Q-methodology, this paper reveals four frames represented in the Austrian policy design process and unravels conflicts between economy-focused and integrated policy framings. The predominance of the first frame indicates a narrow sectoral approach favouring domestic mineral extraction and economic growth over other means (e.g. international distributional conflicts of benefits and burdens). The article also demonstrates the suitability of Q-methodology as a tool to investigate frames and to improve their understanding in policy design processes.

In mine design and planning, the identification of an appropriate Post-Mining Land Use (PMLU) is necessary and crucial to achieve environmental quality, socio-economic renewal, and social acceptance of mining projects. In this context, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods support decision-makers and stakeholders, identifying the relevant factors and criteria, so that, different available alternatives can be evaluated, compared, and contrasted with each other. With the vision to enable its wide application, 15 mine profiles are identified which, combined with selected MCDM methods and relevant factors, results in a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework for PMLU. In this preliminary framework, the MCDM methods selected are SIMUS, TOPSIS, and SMARTER. They serve different problems and, therefore, are used in different profiles: SIMUS is applied to complex profiles, TOPSIS to the lesser ones, and SMARTER is used due to its capacity of assigning weights to criteria based on Ranking Order Centroid calculations. This preliminary MCDA structure gives the possibility to include the complexity (technical and decisional) and a participatory process, for all stakeholders involved concerning PMLU.

Zusammenfassung: Im Zuge des EIT RawMaterials-Projektes „ReviRis – Revitalising Post-Mining Regions“ werden Bergbaugebiete weltweit mit ihren Auswirkungen auf die jeweiligen Bergbaufolgelandschaften betrachtet. Ziel des Projektes ist die Entwicklung eines partizipativen, evaluativen Leitfadens (toolbox), der bei der Gestaltung und Umsetzung von Strategien zur Revitalisierung von Bergbaufolgelandschaften und Übergangslandschaften eingesetzt werden kann. Zielgruppen sind regionale und lokale Entscheidungsträger (Industrie, Gemeinden, Raumplaner und Behörden). Starkes Augenmerk wird auch auf die Beteiligung und das Engagement der verschiedensten Interessengruppen, allen voran der lokalen Bevölkerung, gelegt.Am 22. Juni 2021 fand im Zuge des Projektes der erste online Workshop zum Thema „Revitalisierung von Bergbaufolgelandschaften – Untersuchung von Erfolgsfaktoren oder Gründen für Misserfolge“ statt. Das Ziel dieser Veranstaltung war es, ausgewählte Beispiele von revitalisierten Bergbaufolgelandschaften vorzustellen und die Erfolgs- oder Misserfolgsfaktoren des Revitalisierungs- und Managementprozesses darzustellen.Folgende Revitalisierungsprojekte wurden präsentiert:Zinnbergwerk Geevor (Großbritannien), Lavrion Technological Cultural Park (Griechenland), Goldmine Złoty Stok (Polen), Kupfer- und Anhydritbergwerk Lubichów (Polen), Ölschieferbergwerk Ojamaa (Estland), Abenteuerzentrum Kiviõli (Estland), St. Barbara Mine (Kroatien), Steirischer Erzberg (Österreich).Im Zuge dieses Artikels werden die vorgestellten erfolgreichen Projekte näher erläutert, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der rechtlichen sowie auf der aktuellen Situation in Österreich – am Fallbeispiel des Steirischen Erzberges – liegt. Der Steirische Erzberg stellt insofern ein spannendes Praxisbeispiel dar, dass im Gegensatz zu anderen österreichischen Vorzeigeprojekten wie z. B. zu den Revitalisierungsarbeiten der „GKB-Bergbau GmbH“ oder auch der „Bleiberger Bergwerks Union“ nach Einstellung der Bergbautätigkeit, in Eisenerz gleichzeitig mit vielen alternativen Nutzungen noch immer und auch noch für Jahrzehnte aktiver Erzabbau betrieben wird.