The milos declaration: Creating a living document

In 2003, representatives of academia, governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry, NGOs, and civil society met on the island of Milos, Greece, for the 1st Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry (SDIMI). The purpose was to provide a forum in which participants could discuss the application of sustainable development principles in the minerals industry. The Milos Declaration on Sustainability was introduced at the conference. This document laid out the contributions of the minerals professional community to sustainable development, stating that the engineers, scientists, technical experts, and academics who work in, consult for, educate, study, or are in some other manner associated with the minerals industry, share a mutual responsibility with all individuals to ensure that our actions meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs. The main themes and overarching conclusions reached at the 2013 SDIMI meeting ten years after the inaugural event are reviewed and new trends and areas of progress are identified that will lay the foundation for the Milos +12 Addendum to the Milos Declaration.