Sustainable Practices award (SPA)

Scotland is a leading nation in addressing exploitation in the jewellery supply chains. In 2017 the Incorporation of Goldsmiths established the ethical making pledge to promote and educate on ethical making practices in the jewellery and silversmithing sector in Scotland. The Ethical Making Pledge is collaborative project between the Incorporation of Goldsmiths and the art colleges in Scotland that have jewellery and silversmithing courses at HND level and above. The Pledge is an agreement signed by the art colleges, to implement ethical making practices into the curriculum and workshop methods in their jewellery departments. This includes introducing ethical sourcing as a primary concern in the procurement of precious metals.

The PMW decided soon after to back the pledge by giving the SPA each year to a graduate from each of the seven institutions, in recognition and praise of their work in the use of responsibly sourced materials and ethical concepts in their work.

Since the start of the SPA we have enlisted the support and donations from several other organisations who also contribute to the prizes. While each year the specifics in the prize can change a little, the winners each receive the following:

Fairmined Silver from Vipa Designs

Canadian diamonds from This is Ian

Labgrown diamonds from This is Ian

Responsibly sourced gemstones from Nineteen48

Responsibly sourced gemstones from Capricorn Gems

Making Trouble book from Greg Valerio

Winners trophy from the Precious Metals Workshop

Social media posts from the Precious Metals Workshop

spa sponsors

winners of the 2021 Sustainable Practices Award (SPA)

·         Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (Dundee) - Angela Gillies

·         City of Glasgow College - Lindsay Mahood & Militsa Milenkova

·         Glasgow School of Art - Alexis Mitchell-Taylor

·         Grays Robert Gordon (Aberdeen) – Morgan Deakin

Outreach at the PMW

Artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) accounts for around 20% of the annual gold mining around the world and consist of approximately 90% of the its workforce. That is over 15 million people, of which it is estimated around 5 million to be women and children in over 80 countries. From this mining and its workforce, over 2000 tonnes of mercury is released into the environment every year. ASGM is the biggest mercury polluter globally and mercury-contaminated tailings are released to soils and waters which pollutes the atmosphere, soils and waterways around the world. Mercury is but one facet, of a highly complex multi-faceted sphere, that is the environmental and humanitarian exploitation in the jewellery and metals supply chains that you wear as adornment in the forms of jewellery. It has never mattered more to source responsibly. We all need to raise awareness around the issues, encourage change in how we interact with our supply chains and give back to the artisanal communities at the start of the supply chains.

Despite information now being readily available at the touch of our fingertips, progress is slow in change for the better in areas of exploitation in our supply chains and this is all too obvious in the jewellery industry and in the mining of precious metals and gemstones. On the left below are some documented issues regarding the ASGM supply chains in the jewellery and gold that you wear. On the right hand side is a sourcing model for the silver and gold supply we buy.

The PMW has started to build bridges with two women’s artisanal mining groups.  Moyo gems and the miners from Asomuselupaz. At our events we will provide information to the public about the issues behind their jewellery and encourage them to source responsibly. We will also donate an amount of any profits to these two groups in order to help them build their programs better.

Women miners from Asomuselupaz

As part of our Facets outreach programs, the PMW also supports the Women miners from Asomuselupaz. We annually donate a % of jewellery sales and events income to this wonderful group of women miners in South America who are at the very hardest of steps to make an income to survive. Often searching through tailings of already discarded mine waste, these women are arguably the poorest of artisanal gold miners with little help in the way of any health and safety, wages or any of the employment luxuries that we have here in Scotland. We are proud to help generate further awareness of artisanal mining issues, encourage change in how we buy precious metals and give back to those who need it most in the first links of the supply chains.