The world authority on megaprojects will arrive in Peru for the World Mining Congress 2026

The upcoming edition of the World Mining Congress 2026, to be held in Lima, Peru, from 24–26 June, sets out the challenge of accelerating the unlocking of the minerals essential for global electrification. To rise to this moment, the Congress will bring together the most influential leaders and boldest thinkers, with one of its most anticipated speakers being Bent Flyvbjerg, coauthor of the book How Big Things Get Done, regarded as the world’s foremost scientific authority in megaproject management and recognised as the most cited academic in this field.

Flyvbjerg is an Emeritus Professor at the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford and chair and cofounder of Oxford Global Projects, an institution dedicated to improving how megaprojects are planned and delivered worldwide. His experience beyond academia has enabled him to advise the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Denmark, as well as Fortune 500 companies, multilateral banks, and organisations such as the European Commission and the United Nations.

The opportunity to hear Flyvbjerg is especially relevant for the global mining sector at a time when projects are becoming increasingly complex, costly, and urgent. His most recent book, How Big Things Get Done (2023), written together with Canadian author Dan Gardner, delves into why some major projects achieve extraordinary results while others fail spectacularly.

Managing projects well is crucial

Flyvbjerg notes that, with so many resources committed to large-scale projects, the responsibility to plan them properly has never been greater. “The potential benefits of building the right projects the right way are enormous – and matched only by the vast waste involved in taking on the wrong projects or executing them poorly,” he emphasises.

In his article What You Should Know About Megaprojects, and Why, he cites estimates from the McKinsey Global Institute projecting annual infrastructure spending of US$3.4 trillion through 2030 – about 4% of global GDP. When mining, oil and gas, defence, aerospace, and ICT are included, the value of megaprojects rises to between US$6 and 9 trillion per year, equivalent to roughly 8% of global GDP.

When these projects fail, the impact can be profound. As Flyvbjerg notes, “When projects of such magnitude fail, it’s not just the companies involved that suffer – entire national economies can feel the consequences.”

A key author for mining project leaders

His book Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition is essential reading for project managers, investors, and regulators. His research has been featured in Nature, Science, The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the BBC, and translated into 21 languages.

During the World Mining Congress 2026, Flyvbjerg will lead a plenary session based on what he calls “the science of making large projects successful,” focusing on how to reduce delays, manage risks, shorten timelines, and design robust projects from the start.

The Congress will take place during the week of Inti Raymi, the ancestral Fiesta del Sol (Festival of the Sun), a celebration that symbolises new light and the opportunity to begin again. This coincidence inspired the event’s official theme, Mining for the Future — Trust, Transformation, Technology, as a call to collectively rethink the course of mining.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/11122025/the-world-authority-on-megaprojects-will-arrive-in-peru-for-the-world-mining-congress-2026/