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 2007, 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, 57% 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
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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. The plan also outlines the methods, processes, and initiatives to achieve agreed upon targets, while providing an overview of operations and improvements accomplished in the past.
Our community members in Australia participate in developing the plan, sign off on the plan, monitor our progress in achieving 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.
We have continued our extensive community consultation for the Juruti bauxite mine project in Brazil involving dozens of NGOs, community organizations, and governmental bodies. Through extensive stakeholder consultation, we have moved from a position of conflict and challenge to one of engagement.
In January 2007, we hosted a three-day community exhibition in partnership with the local government to provide updates on both our new mine construction project and the dozens of socio-environmental programs we are helping deploy in the region. In early 2008, we helped launch the Council for Sustainable Juruti, which will provide a permanent avenue for dialogue and consultation among stakeholders making decisions about the sustainable future of this Amazonian city. We also hold ongoing integration workshops to provide a forum for interaction and participatory planning for local development and environmental control programs.
In May 2007, the government of Greenland and Alcoa signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly conduct a feasibility study for constructing a 340,000 metric-ton-per-year smelter. Upon completion, the project would represent one of the largest investments in Greenland's history, stimulate economic growth and manufacturing diversity, create around 600 direct, stable jobs, and contribute to increasing Greenland's overall productivity and economic self-support.
The project is developing a foundation of extensive consultation with the people of Greenland, specifically residents of the three municipalities that helped Alcoa seek a site for the smelter—Sisimiut, Maniitsoq, and Nuuk.
In August 2007, more than 120 local people attended each of the public meetings held in the three cities during the first round of community consultation. The public meetings followed a series of site visits in March by four senior Alcoa representatives who met community leaders and began site assessment. In addition, delegations from Greenland have visited Alcoa smelters in São Luís, Brazil; Reydarfjordur, Iceland; and Deschambault, Canada.
The next community consultation meetings in January 2008 were attended by more than 160 people at each location—a record for such meetings in Greenland.
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 remain important 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 2007:
- Our Jamalco operations in Jamaica is providing US$15,000 annually to fund the services of a doctor and nurse for the nearby Raymonds Health Centre. Jamalco is also underwriting the costs for a community health aid for the Bottom Halse Hall Heath Centre. The two facilities combined serve 12,000 residents.
- Our operations in Ferndale, Washington, USA, partnered with the local American Red Cross to supply safety whistles to community groups for use by their members participating in hiking programs.
- A $US65,000 Alcoa Foundation grant to the Association for Suicide Prevention in Hildesheim, Germany, supported suicide prevention in local schools and helped train school officials to recognize suicide warning signs.
- More than 30 employees at our Minhang, China, plant and their families personally persuaded 170 people to donate blood, building upon a US$20,000 Alcoa Foundation grant to the Voluntary Blood Donation Promotion Association of Minhang.
- Ten employee volunteers from our Merxheim, France, location partnered with the local police to evaluate and educate schoolchildren on pedestrian risks and safe behavior.
- In Portovesme, Italy, we are supporting a no-smoking competition for middle and high school students throughout the region to help raise awareness of smoking's health risks.
- A US$20,000 Alcoa Foundation grant to Massena Memorial Hospital Foundation in New York helped fund highly advanced orthopedic equipment that will help patients with osteoporosis heal faster from fractures and with less discomfort.
- We are supporting the construction of a walking and cycling path along the River Cole in Kitts Green, United Kingdom, to help local residents keep fit.
- Funded by Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation, a two-day health awareness training session in Acuna, Mexico, focused on breast cancer detection, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. More than 450 people attended, including an average of 60 medical professionals at each session.
- Thirty-five children with chronic diabetes and their parents attended a community event held by our operations in Hardewijk, Netherlands, that included outdoor activities, diving lessons, and educational sessions on eating patterns and managing insulin levels.
At a more strategic level, in 2007 we developed internal company guidelines to establish a more 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 2007, 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 the property for sale 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. The port has announced that FedEx Ground will break ground on the site in 2008 to build a 410,000-square-foot regional distribution center that will have a direct employment base of 1,600 people when all phases are completed.
In Longview, Washington, USA, we have worked with our lessee to reposition the location as a major bulk material import/export terminal. The lessee is now transshipping alumina, cement, petroleum coke, and coal through the facility and employing more than 90 people full time. We expect this facility to continue to grow and become a major component of the local economy and tax base.
We anticipate 2008 will be another active year for end-of-life activities, as we develop plans for a number of significant locations in the U.S. 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. In addition, we will again be the major sponsor for the Phoenix Awards, which are given annually to the most successful brownfield redevelopment projects across the U.S.
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
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View a partial list of stakeholders Alcoa consulted, listened to, or partnered with in 2007.go
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