Raw Materials Week 2024: SCRREEN-IRTC event “Critical Raw Materials Intelligence – From Data to Decisions”

From 9 to 13 December 2024, Brussels once again hosted Raw Materials Week, the European Commission’s flagship policy event on raw materials.

Since its launch in 2016, this annual gathering has become a cornerstone for discussions on Europe’s raw materials strategy, bringing together over 1000 participants from industry, government, civil society, research, and academia.

Among the key highlights of this year’s program was the RM Week SCRREEN-IRTC event, titled “Critical Raw Materials Intelligence – From Data to Decisions”. Held on Tuesday, 10 December, in the Versailles Room at the Hotel Le Plaza, Brussels, the session was co-organized by the European Commission, the Horizon Europe project SCRREEN3 – Solutions for CRitical Raw materials – a European Expert Network 3, and the EIT RawMaterials project IRTC – International Round Table on Materials Criticality.

Throughout the day, the SCRREEN3 team conducted impactful discussions, gained key insights, and held exclusive interviews with leading experts in the field, including:

• Magnus Eriksson: professor, partner and co-founder of the Raw Materials Group drawn on his extensive expertise in mineral economics and resource governance to recommend key policy measures for a more adaptive and forward-thinking CRM strategy
• Rob Strayer: President of the Critical Minerals Forum who shared a global perspective on fostering partnerships and initiatives that could strengthen the EU’s CRM supply chain resilience.
• Susanne Moser: Ph.D. from RHI Magnesita with which were addressed the topics of the need for secure CRM supply chains and the pressures of sustainability and decarbonization.
• Mika Seitorvirta: Chief Regional Officer of Sibanye-Stillwater with whom were discussed the themes of the effectiveness of current supply risk monitoring mechanisms and the role of the upstream companies in improving transparency and collaboration across the value chain.
• Gaetan Lefebvre: Senior analyst and SCRREEN3 coordinator from BRGM shared his perspective on using stress testing and serious games to enhance critical raw materials supply chain monitoring.

This high-level event focused on data-driven strategies and collaborative solutions for a sustainable raw materials ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of robust intelligence in addressing critical raw materials (CRMs) challenges.