1806 A SYSTEMS DESIGN TO CREATE A RESILIENT ECONOMY: THE CASE OF SUDBURY, CANADA M. Abbasi1, *D. Hiam-Galvez2, S. Espley3, S. Heshami1, P. Zangeneh1 1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada 2Founder/Author Designing Sustainable Prosperity (DSP) (*Presenting author: doris.hiamgalvez@gmail.com) 3Champion Sudbury Initiative ABSTRACT Natural resource-rich economies frequently confront a structural "prosperity paradox": they generate significant wealth yet remain vulnerable to commodity price cycles, finite reserves, and entrenched social inequality, resulting in boom and bust cycles that make their long-term future precarious. This paper introduces the Designing Sustainable Prosperity (DSP) approach, a science-based, systems design methodology developed to transition mining-dependent regions toward diversified, resilient economies that deliver balanced prosperity for people and planet. Rather than treating mining as the sole economic engine, DSP positions mineral extraction as an enabling platform for developing high-value, knowledge-based enterprises. Using Sudbury, Canada, as a pilot case study, this analysis demonstrates how the region’s untapped potential, specifically its world-class subsurface mastery, safety excellence, pioneering environmental remediation, and integration of Indigenous wisdom, can be transformed into a global competitive advantage. The DSP method uses a structured design process that begins with a sustainability baseline informed by OECD evidence and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), followed by a comprehensive potential assessment, co-design, sensitivity testing, and business case development. This approach creates a pathway for building a diversified economy that exports specialized know-how and intellectual property, securing prosperity beyond the life cycle of mineral extraction. The resulting plan aligns infrastructure investment, policy, education, workforce development, and innovation around a shared regional vision. KEYWORDS Designing Sustainable Prosperity (DSP), SDGs, Resilient economy, Mining regions, Sudbury, Systems design 1. INTRODUCTION: THE VULNERABILITY OF THE TRADITIONAL MINING MODEL However, a traditional mining-centric model can create long-term structural vulnerability when regional prosperity remains tied primarily to finite resources and volatile commodity markets. Mines are temporary, but communities, infrastructure, and social systems are intended to endure. This mismatch creates a central planning challenge for mining regions: how can temporary extractive activity be used to build lasting prosperity rather than dependency? Sudbury, Ontario, is a key case study in navigating this transition. Once infamous for severe industrial degradation, the region was left with an inhospitable “moonscape” after a century of logging, smelting, and acidification. Since then, Sudbury has earned international recognition for environmental recovery, including the planting of more than 14 million trees and the restoration of damaged ecosystems (Ghougassian, 2012). This history demonstrates both the consequences of a narrow extractive model and the
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