The National Lithium and Salars (INLiSa), together with the Regional Government of Atacama, today announced the establishment of the new Atacama Regional Committee, a strategic body that will articulate the Institute’s work with territorial priorities, ensure participatory governance styles, and promote the sustainable development of the lithium industry in the region.
The constituent session was held in the city of Copiapó, with the presence of the Regional Governor of Atacama, Miguel Vargas, representatives of the public sector (Regional Ministerial Secretariats of Mining and of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation; CORFO; SERNAGEOMIN), the academic world (University of Atacama), industry, and civil society.
According to INLiSa’s statutes, the Regional Committee is made up of up to ten members, including regional authorities, academia, and key players in the salt flat’s mining-scientific ecosystem. Its mandate will be to advise the Institute’s Board of Directors, identify territorial needs linked to the industry, monitor regional initiatives, and propose public-private, academic-scientific, and community articulation mechanisms.
Governor Miguel Vargas emphasized that this body “will contribute to strengthening various initiatives linked to lithium, associated with production, but also with research, innovation, and the protection of salt flats.”
For his part, the Executive Director of INLiSa, Hernán Cáceres, stated that “we have held the first session of the Atacama Regional Committee, which is a space for collaboration and also advises the Board of Directors of our Institute to be able to link the needs of the region.”
The President of INLiSa’s Board of Directors, Arlene Ebensperger, explained that the Committee “aims to ensure that innovation and development have regional content and importance, so as not to lose the link between the needs and the solutions that are generated in the different challenges associated with salt flats.”
This new Regional Committee in the Atacama Region represents a historic opportunity to strengthen a local governance model around lithium and salt flats, based on three pillars: economic development, environmental protection, and shared territorial benefit.
