Roundtable | What’s Going On with Rare Earths, What are they, and what are they used for?

Thursday May 15, 2025, at 18:30
Sala d’Actes, Palau Macaya, Passeig de Sant Joan, 108, 08037 Barcelona
Conference

Registration is required

Dialogue on Material Limits and Socio-Environmental Tensions of the Energy and Digital Transition

What are rare earth elements, and what are they used for? A dialogue on the material, social, and environmental challenges related to these materials considered critical for the energy and digital transition.

Featuring:

  • Alicia Valero, Director of the Industrial Ecology area at the Energaia Institute and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Zaragoza

  • Mariana Walter, Research Fellow Ramón y Cajal at IBEI, and member of the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice

Moderated by: Marta Conde, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the CSIC

Relevant information

🎙️  Idioma: Spanish (without simultaneous translation)

📍   VenueSala d’Actes, Palau Macaya, Passeig de Sant Joan, 108, 08037 Barcelona · Google Maps

✏️ Attendance is free, previous registration is required. The registration is available here

📄  Those who attend the whole series of conferences can request an attendance diploma delivered by the Fundació "la Caixa" and IBEI.

8 - 22 MAY, 2025

The energy transition is key to mitigating the worst effects of climate change, yet it is driving a global race to access an unprecedented volume of metals and minerals. This process is generating old and new tensions at the local, national, and global levels. The conference series examines current geopolitical tensions, emerging impacts, and territorial conflicts and proposes to open a conversation about alternative approaches to the energy transition.

This roundtable series is co-organized with "la Caixa" Foundation

Academic CoordinatorsMartijn Vlaskamp, Assistant Professor Ramón y Cajal at IBEI, and Mariana Walter, Research Fellow Ramón y Cajal at IBEI.

Agenda

8 May, 18:30 CEST

Clean Energy, Dirty Politics?

THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Free registration

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22 May, 18:30 CEST

Alternatives for a Finite Planet

DEGROWTH, ECO-SOCIAL PACTS, AND ECOFEMINIST APPROACHES

Free registration

More information