A Peruvian Amazon case where Indigenous communities produce their own data and diagnoses, turning social investment into lasting capacity across the mine life cycle.
Extractive projects in culturally diverse territories face social risks rooted in information asymmetry and in social investment that rarely outlives operations. Nuestros Saberes is a participatory programme built as a co-responsibility model between companies, the State and communities. It strengthens literacy, applied research and communication skills so that teachers, students, families and elders produce their own sociocultural and census data, situational diagnoses and audiovisual records for local planning, treating education as a territorial asset anchored in collective memory. The design uses a mixed, participatory methodology, a living logframe and a theory of change, aligned with IFC PS1, PS7 and PS8, IDB ESPS 10 and the ICMM Social Performance Maturity Matrix. A review of the 2024 sustainability reports of Peru's top five mining companies shows community participation rarely goes beyond information and consultation. Partially implemented with the Kichwa community of El Wayku (San Martín, Peru), the programme has delivered a community library and a collective memory book written with local elders. Without reporting final impacts yet, the case validates a model to optimise social investment, improve ESG traceability and reduce conflict-related losses. Its potential peaks during operations, but it can start at exploration and continue into early closure through a phase-based, combined budget that avoids funding gaps across the mine life cycle.
Sociologist and social performance specialist at WSP Peru, working on community engagement, citizen participation and Indigenous peoples in mining and energy projects.