Community Consultation—Programs & Actions
Alcoa Community Framework
Introduced in 2001, the Alcoa Community Framework is a tool and process we use to facilitate and measure ongoing relationship-building and communications between Alcoa and our community stakeholders.
The framework helps our locations build stronger relationships with employees, their families, community leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and government officials. It provides information and guidance to undertake the kind of community events and structures that will foster greater understanding of our shared goals and needs.
The framework allows for great local flexibility and results in a variety of community engagement opportunities. These range from simple briefings, issue discussion forums, open houses, plant tours and tree plantings to active participation by community members on committees and advisory boards.
In 2008, we continued the rollout of the Alcoa Community Framework in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. About 90% of our worldwide operating locations had established community programs as of year end.
In the United States, 68% of our locations have a formal community advisory board to provide a forum for ongoing interaction between the plants and area residents. All of our Australian locations have established community consultative networks consisting of Alcoa and community representatives to work together on important issues. These include sustainability, environmental effects, local employment, and Alcoa sponsorship and partnership programs. Examples of these boards in action include the Canada Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Community Advisory Panel for Alcoa Rockdale Operations.
Locations have also developed other programs for community engagement. For example, our Victorian operations in Australia established Alcoa in the Community committees made up of a diverse range of employees, from management to union delegates. The committees proactively pursue community partnerships, approve sponsorship requests, act as ambassadors for the company, and promote volunteering in the workforce.
Performance data
 go
North American Public Strategy Group
A seven-member team of internal public affairs experts, the North American Public Strategy Group helps Alcoa locations in the United States better implement the Alcoa Community Framework.
Team members are assigned a geographic territory and work with Alcoa locations in that area to conduct individual community assessments to better understand each location’s role in the community and how best to work with stakeholders to address the mutual needs of both Alcoa and our neighbors. Once an assessment is completed, the location develops a roadmap on how it will deal with issues and stakeholders. Tactics include building relationships with local officials and media, leveraging employee engagement in the community, and contributing to the long-term economic sustainability of the facility.
Environmental Improvement Plans
Many of Alcoa’s Australia operations work with the local communities to develop environmental improvement plans for each location.
An environmental improvement plan is a public commitment by an operation to continuously improve environmental performance, reduce environmental impacts, and develop more sustainable practices. The plan sets clear targets for improvement and details progress against those targets. It also outlines the methods, processes, and initiatives to achieve agreed upon targets, while providing an overview of operations and improvements accomplished in the past.
Typically, the draft plan is offered by the company for collaborative external review, adjusted in light of that review, and then finalized, signed by participating stakeholders, published, and deployed by the company. The stakeholders monitor our progress in achieving the targets and annually review the plan.
Examples of these plans can be found on our Australian operations website.
Project Consultation
In-depth community consultation is an important component for any new project we undertake anywhere in the world, as well as for expansions and upgrades at existing facilities. Examples of this consultation include the following:
New Projects
Expansion/Upgrades
Project consultation requires open and transparent dialogue, often over extended periods of time. This is sometimes not easy, especially when there are strongly differing views within respective stakeholder groups.
In 2008, for example, we continued our consultation with communities in Greenland, where we are studying the feasibility of constructing a combined hydroelectric system and aluminum smelter with a 340,000 metric-ton-per-year capacity. Public meetings in January, June, and September 2008 provided project updates and a forum for responding to community questions about the environmental, health, safety, and employment aspects of the project. The meetings also provided an opportunity to meet with representatives from local businesses, hunting and fishing organizations, and other special interest groups.
In August, the independent consultancy firm working on aspects of the environmental and social impact assessment studies interviewed representatives from Knapk, the Greenlandic national union of fishers and hunters. The goal was to integrate the detailed knowledge that local hunters and fishers have accumulated over many generations into the studies. The consultation focused on the rivers and lakes that could be affected by the hydropower project, the char and other coastal fish inhabiting the site area, and the occurrence of whales, caribou, musk ox.
In the Boké prefecture in Guinea, extensive consultation continued in 2008 with communities that will be affected in the event the proposed 1.5 million metric-ton-per-year alumina refinery project proceeds on the selected Kabata site. These communities include those that will require relocation, as well as those that will act as hosts to those being relocated.
The principal objective of this consultation program is to ensure the affected communities and project developers fully understand and agree on what is required to enable resettled communities, and their hosts, to restore and improve their livelihoods as they participate in the regional growth that the proposed refinery project will generate.
Consultative events in 2008 included three meetings of the Resettlement Advisory Group (formed in 2007 and made up of affected community and government representatives) and the following major initiatives:
- Completion of collaborative baseline crop and material value surveys within the affected communities;
- Presentation of potential resettlement sites to the affected and host communities. The sites were identified during a workshop facilitated by the project developers, with technical input from personnel of the Boké prefecture government;
- Consultations with host communities to determine their willingness and capacity to host the relocated communities and to survey potential resettlement sites;
- Community meetings were conducted, an agreement was reached, and final repairs were made to badly damaged roads in the villages;
- Presentation of a high-level overview of the planned community development program to the Resettlement Advisory Group; and
- Consultations to support the planning and completion of fieldwork for a health assessment of the involved communities and the general Boké region.
The consultation strategy is embedded within every stage of the project development strategy and is structured to ensure that there is continuous interaction between the project and the stakeholders within the developing region.
EHS Community Programs
The safety and health of the people in our plant communities as well as the protection of the environment beyond the walls of our facilities is of paramount importance to Alcoa. From sponsoring a collection of household hazardous wastes to conducting free community health screenings, we reinforce our values and demonstrate our commitment to improving the quality of life for individuals and the community as a whole.
In addition, safe and healthy children and families is an area of excellence for Alcoa Foundation, which provides millions of dollars to health and safety programs worldwide each year.
The following are examples of how we took our health and safety values into the community during 2008:
- An Alcoa Foundation donation to the Kunshan Charity Federation Huaqiao Branch will support 11 rehabilitation centers for the disabled by providing better rehabilitation equipment, exercise, and treatment.
- Alcoa volunteers from the Alcoa primary plant in La Coruña, Spain, turned the electric workshop of IES Calvo Sotelo High School into a safer place by updating electrical wiring and connection and organizing the store room.
- An Alcoa Foundation grant to Fundación Ruth Paz, a resource center for burn victims and their families, was used to buy necessary medical equipment for the burn unit in a local hospital.
- Employees from Alcoa Australia Rolled Products joined the Blue Mountains State Emergency Service for a simulated train derailment training exercise to practice important skills needed in a real life situation.
- Alcoans in Amorebieta, Spain, provided bicycle safety to children at a local school in partnership with Club Deportivo Extrem-Zornotza, a sports association.
- Alcoa in Australia and the Bluearth Institute launched a partnership that will see youngsters from 10 schools in the Peel region benefit from physical fitness activities.
- In the U.S. and Mexico, Alcoa helped sponsor the Binational Substance Abuse Prevention Proclamation Conference hosted by CAUDA, a non profit organization that promotes prevention of substance abuse, particularly among youths.
- Employees from Alcoa Fjardaál helped make a popular hiking and picnic area in Iceland safer by building an access bridge and setting up railing for less experienced hikers.
At a more strategic level, we have a formal process to address community health issues for new projects and major expansions of existing locations where potential—or the perception for potential—health risks to the community could exist.
This process is designed to systematically identify and manage potential human health effects of these projects on communities living near our operations. One component is a Community Health Risk Assessment, which attempts to understand the overall population health profile of a community, as well as assess broader public health effects from the changes introduced to a community as a result of a new project. As per Alcoa guidelines, the scope of the assessment is determined on a project-by-project basis.
Facility End-of-Life Activities
Community consultation is an integral part of our process when we choose to close a facility. Although it can be less costly to “fence it and forget it” when dealing with closed facilities, we actively work to develop an end-of-life strategy that benefits the community and positions the facility to be reused or redeveloped. This includes leaving a grant commitment behind in the affected community.
In 2008, we evaluated a number of closed facilities. Some were able to be reused as industrial facilities and were sold. For others, we decided that their highest and best use was not compatible with the existing facility. In Swansea, Wales, for example, we are completing the remediation and selective demolition of our former manufacturing facilities and have advertised the property for lease as an industrial park.
We also completed the US$20 million decommissioning program to prepare our former smelter facility in Troutdale, Oregon, USA, for redevelopment by remediating the facility to an industrial-use standard. The sale of the facility to the Port of Portland occurred in December 2007. In October 2008, FedEx Ground broke ground on the site for a 410,000-square-foot regional distribution center that is expected to have a direct employment base of 1,600 people when all phases are completed.
In Bauxite, Arkansas, USA, we have identified alternative uses for our remaining bauxite reserves. We currently have two companies mining the mineral for use in the manufacture of proppant, which is injected into deep wells during the hydraulic fracturing process. We have also begun a sustainable forestry program on these 4,856 hectares (12,000 acres).
In Vancouver, Washington, USA, we substantially completed remediation of a site and sold it to the Port of Vancouver in the first quarter of 2009. The location was remediated to industrial levels, allowing the port to develop the site for import/export and industrial activities. The addition of this property to the port will provide the competitive advantage of expansion for the next several decades.
In 2008, we again were the major sponsor for the Phoenix Awards, which are given annually to the most successful brownfield redevelopment projects across the United States.
We anticipate 2009 will be another active year for end-of-life activities, as we develop plans for a number of significant locations in the United States and Western Europe. We are also working to incorporate lessons learned from our decommissioning activities into the design of new facilities so they can be more easily reused or demolished at the end of their lives.
Case Studies
Identifying and Addressing Community Needs in Spain
Amazon Mining Project Strives To Set Sustainability Benchmark
Sustainability Advisory Committee Helps Alcoa Meet Expectations of Canadian Society
Employment Program Brings Security to Guinea Communities
Advisory Panel Builds Bridge with Community
A Stakeholder Perspective on Alcoa
Community Stakeholders Help Develop Environmental Improvement Plans
Project Opponents, Proponents Work Together to Ensure Safe Protesting
Alcoa Helps Deliver EHS Improvement in Romania
Bringing EHS, Sustainability Awareness to the Community
Bringing Sustainable Development to the Amazon
Community Partnerships for Sustainability
Engaging with the Community for the Long-Term
Engagement, Environmental Assessment Underscore Efficiency Upgrade Approval
Strengthening Long-Term Sustainability in an Australian Community
Promoting Aluminum Recycling through the Triple Bin Challenge
Coming to the Rescue of Australia's Rivers
Partnering for Stronger Communities in Australia
|
 |
View a partial list of stakeholders Alcoa consulted, listened to, or partnered with in 2008.go
|
