We are proud to announce the launch of Extractives Dialogues, a new platform dedicated to conversations that matter in communities shaped by natural resources and development projects. The name carries a deliberate double meaning: it speaks both to dialogue around the extractive communities like Hwange, and to conversations that extract truth, knowledge, and lived experience from the people whose lives intersect with development on the ground. At a time when global demand for minerals, energy resources, and infrastructure continues to grow, it is increasingly important that the voices of communities, workers, and local leaders are not treated as an afterthought but as an essential part of the conversation.
Extractives Dialogues will create multiple spaces for engagement and storytelling. Through hard-hitting conversations, the platform will host thoughtful discussions with policymakers, researchers, industry practitioners, and community voices on issues ranging from resource governance to livelihoods and accountability. In addition, town hall dialogues will bring together duty-bearers and communities in a shared space, encouraging open discussion, public scrutiny, and constructive engagement around development challenges and opportunities. Complementing these conversations will be documentaries and docufilms that capture the lived realities of mining towns and resource-rich communities, providing visual narratives that document both the opportunities and the tensions that accompany development.
Produced under Hwange Chronicles and proudly partnered with The Little Guest House, Extractives Dialogues aims to build a credible platform where dialogue strengthens accountability and contributes to more inclusive development. By convening diverse voices and perspectives, the platform seeks to bridge the gap between policy conversations and community experience, ensuring that development debates are grounded in reality. As this initiative grows, we welcome partnerships with institutions, organisations, researchers, media practitioners, and community leaders who share the belief that informed dialogue can shape better decisions and a more just future for resource-dependent communities.
