Systemic Design for Social License: Modelling Information and Communication Challenges in Mining Environmental Management through a Systemic CJM

Abstract

Environmental management in mining projects is a complex socio-technical process in which legitimacy and operational viability depend not only on regulatory compliance, but also on the capacity to articulate actors, institutions, procedures, and environmental information throughout the project lifecycle. In this context, social licence is strained when environmental information is highly technical, dispersed, and fragmented, limiting traceability, shared understanding, and the capacity for informed action among public-sector, private-sector, and civil-society actors.This article discusses the contribution of Systemic Design, articulated with Service Design, to model the environmental management of mining projects through the construction of a systemic Customer Journey Map. Based on the case study of the Environmental Observatory for Mining Projects (EO), the article analyses how the “mining project journey” was constructed as a methodological device to represent interactions among actors, procedures, and environmental information platforms.The study shows that the Systemic Customer Journey Map enabled the identification of breakdown points in access, comprehension, traceability, coordination, and participation. It also supported the translation of these findings into design criteria for the Observatory and its Support Service. In doing so, the article contributes a replicable model for making visible the information and communication challenges that affect environmental governance and social licence in mining contexts.

Keywords: Systemic Design, Service Design, Social Licence, Mining, Environmental Management, Environmental Information

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008144