al., 2024). In the Corredor de Vida, participatory risk mapping exercises show that the lack of clear state leadership and binding deliberative mechanisms has led to reactive and fragmented responses, increasing the risk of conflict and further weakening local institutions (UPME, 2023). The practice of mining companies in response to the closure of operations in Cesar has shown limited capacity to ensure a socioeconomic transition, especially in their relationship with stakeholders and in incorporating a long-term territorial vision. In the case of Prodeco/Glencore, deficits in effective participation in the closure process have been documented: the Constitutional Court (T-029 of 2025) ordered the creation of a 'grand roundtable' to ensure the meaningful participation of communities and unions in defining measures associated with the closure plan, currently under review by the ANLA (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2025; AIDA, 2025). From a labor perspective, the process was characterized by mass layoffs without systematic policies for retraining or reskilling the workforce, which reinforced a company-worker relationship focused on contractual termination rather than socioeconomic transition (Mohr et al., 2023). At the community level, there are persistent deficits in information, transparency, and participation during the closure, which has limited the construction of territorial agreements and deepened the power asymmetries betwe , companies, communities, and the state (Vega-Araújo et al., 2024). Overall, business practice has favored an operational and administrative exit strategy, without effective coordination with the long-term territorial impacts. In short, the case of Cesar shows that the closure of coal mining occurred in the absence of the minimum conditions for an orderly socioeconomic transition. Gaps in anticipation, governance, and company-territory relations have been identified, converging in a long-term territorial gap, as the closure overlaps with enclave economies without productive diversification or local capacity building. As a result, the closure was not configured as a planned transition process, but rather as a disruptive event that simultaneously strained social cohesion, economic sustainability, and the institutional capacity of the territory. 4. PROPOSAL 4.1. General approach of the proposal The comparative analysis between the two countries shows that the main criterion for closure is regulatory compliance, without addressing long-term socioeconomic dependencies and risks in a structural manner. This narrow conception explains the gap between formally adequate closures and post-mining territories facing economic stagnation and institutional weakening. Evidence shows that closure triggers territorial needs that exceed the regulatory framework, such as labor transition, local fiscal sustainability, and the continuity of strategic infrastructure. When these dimensions are not managed in an anticipatory and integrated manner, the benefits generated during mining operations tend to become vulnerabilities when the mine closes. In this context, the proposal is based on a central conceptual shift: moving away from the traditional approach of "social closure" toward one of just socioeconomic transition, understood 120
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