Mining education in the XXI century: global challenges and prospects

Abstract

An analysis of development prospects for the world mining industry is presented, requirements to mining technologies are formulated, as well as key trends of technologic development in the mineral resources complex. The paper demonstrates the role of mining industry and professional education as essential components of sustainable territorial development. Global challenges have been formulated, which must be taken into account when forming general approaches to the development of mining education. Distinctions of mining education in Russia, Germany, USA and other leading mining countries have been analyzed. Professional standards for mining engineers have been reviewed for different countries, along with their relation to educational standards. It has been shown, what role professional communities play in the development of professional education and stimulation of continuous professional development of mining engineers. Authors point out the need for international integration in the issues of training and continuous professional development of mining specialists, as well as international accreditation of educational programs for mining engineers and their certification. Information is presented on international organizations, performing the function of international accreditation of engineering educational programs, history of their establishment and role within the context of economic globalization. The paper contains examples of successful international cooperation and modern integration processes among universities, aimed at unification of requirements and improvement of existing systems of training and continuous professional development of mining engineers.