On October 6th, the team of the Alliance for Responsible Mining hosted the first conference in Colombia about the Fairmined initiative, for jewelers and other professional sector. The event was part of the academic agenda of WatchBO, the watches and jewelry Salon, celebrated in its 4th version in Bogota.
The conference had more than 45 attendees, most of them from the jewelry and luxury sector, academia and entrepreneurs on sustainability issues. During the talk, Kenneth Porter and Laura Parra from the Alliance for Responsible Mining, spoke about the general aspects of the initiative and its benefits for the supply chain, mentioning the key aspects of the process to become a Fairmined Licensee. Luis Alfredo Gonzalez, manager of the Iquira Cooperative, one of the Fairmined certified mining organizations in Colombia, gave his important testimony to the attendees about the cooperative’s process to reach Fairmined Certification, and the benefits it has brought to their company and community. He also mentioned the importance of the awards and recognitions they have achieved since certified under the Fairmined Standard. Meanwhile, Andres Castellanos from Alloy SA, Fairmined Supplier in Colombia, spoke about their technology and processes and invited jewelers once again to incluide Fairmined Gold as an important part of their responsible supply chains.
Three weeks later, we are pleased to announce that three jewelers, who were part of the audience, have decided to join the Fairmined Initiative: Arque-Arte, Tundama Joyería, and Ana Gonzalez Joyas. This keeps on demonstrating the wide interest the jewelry sector has on producing responsible pieces and including effective solutions to their supply chains in order to make sustainable and responsible jewellery. Besides this, there is a more noticeable and growing demand from final consumers to acquire ethical and sustainable products. In total, there are now six Licensees in Colombia, four in Peru and one in Ecuador which are part of Fairmined initiative in Latin America. Special thanks to the WatchBO team for giving us this space and for their outstanding support. Thanks to all attendees and friends who joined us, stay tuned for the next event about the Fairmined Initiative!
For more information about fairmined and how to be part of the initiative, please contact us at info@fairmined.org
