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Iceland - 2006
Project Opponents, Proponents Work Together to Ensure Safe Protesting
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Despite seeing the world through different lenses, Alcoa and a grass-roots environmental group worked together to ensure planned summer protests against the company's smelter project in east Iceland were held safely and without disruption to construction activities.
Friends of Iceland, which adamantly opposes the smelter and the hydroelectric dam being built by Iceland's national energy company to support it, planned a two-week protest at the site in July 2006 to coincide with the completion of the dam's construction.
"It's a shame to destroy Europe's largest remaining wilderness area," said Helena Stefansdottir, spokesperson for Friends of Iceland. "Iceland is too small to support this heavy industry."
After learning of the planned protests, Alcoa began reaching out to the leadership of Friends of Iceland to acknowledge the organization's right to peaceful protest but also make known the company's priority was safety. Formal and informal contact followed, including joint meetings with other project participants and the local police to map out protest locations and safety precautions, such as fencing and signage.
"We were prepared to facilitate the protest activities by ensuring safe places for the protestors to be seen in proximity of our facility," said Wade Hughes, director of public strategy for Alcoa Global Primary Products Growth. "Helena and her organization did the right thing by agreeing to meet with us, and it took courage and integrity to do so. As a result, we have changed our views about the group."
Strefansdottir remains a committed opponent of the project, but the relationship established during the protest planning gave her insight into Alcoa.
"I thought Alcoa was a monster corporation that was destroying nature all over the world," she said. "That opinion hasn't changed much. What has changed is that I've gotten to know individuals within the company, and I now see they are people who have families and live their lives just like I do. The differences between us make it difficult, but the first step is to understand that on both sides, we have people, individuals, humans—not monsters and machines."
There were no injuries during the two-week protest, and Friends of Iceland protestors did not disrupt construction activity. Non-associated protestors did, however, leading to the arrest of a few individuals.
"The approach taken by Friends of Iceland in entering into open, candid dialogue is far more effective at causing change within an organization than the actions of people who disregard the value of dialogue and resort to simplistic, direct actions, such as climbing cranes," said Hughes.
The constructive relationship with Friends of Iceland and other Icelandic non-governmental organizations, such as Landvernd and Iceland Nature Conservation Association, has helped influence Alcoa's support of efforts to establish a national park in East Iceland that would be the largest in all of Europe. Park legislation is expected to be submitted to the Icelandic parliament before the end of 2006.
For Stefansdottir, however, the fight against the smelter facility will continue.
"I don't feel it's possible to meet halfway on this project," she said. "I would like to see only aluminum recycling facilities in Iceland, since recycling takes 5% of the energy needed to smelt new aluminum. To me, that would be a real success and a true way to help this planet."
Adds Hughes, "We respect people's rights to express their opinions even when we strongly disagree, and we'll continue to be open to dialogue with them."
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