HOW TO FIX A HOLE IN THE GROUND

In the final episode of the third season of Getting Closure, host Mike O’Kane explores some of the less conventional options for putting a worked-out mine to good use. His guest is Peter Whitbread-Abrutat, co-author of 102 Things to Do With a Hole in the Ground and a leading proponent of progressive and sustainable mine closure.

Illustrating his argument with examples from around the world, Peter makes the point that the solution to any mine-closure problem is probably already out there, somewhere — you just have to know where to look. Since 2014, Peter has been the director of Future Terrains, a team of reclamation specialists and landscape architects tasked with reclaiming degraded lands by enhancing environmental and social performance and promoting landscape restoration.

Peter and Mike also talk about the lessons from the Eden Project, which, with Peter’s scientific guidance, turned what used to be a kaolin clay pit into the world’s largest indoor rainforest.

Resources

• Landform Design Institute
• Future Terrains
• The Eden Project
• 102 Things to Do With a Hole in the Ground