ON THE RAILS IN TIBET: A CASE STUDY IN RISK MITIGATION

Transcription

1 ON THE RAILS IN TIBET: A CASE STUDY IN RISK MITIGATION Robin D Arcy/Deb Rasmussen Agriteam Canada Consulting Canada South Africa Chamber of Business Risk Mitigation & CSR in Africa & Emerging Markets Seminar

2 Outline Who is Agriteam? The Issue Agriteam s Solu5on The Project Social Risk Mi5ga5on Poli5cal Risk Mi5ga5on Project Results Next Steps 2

3 For more than 25 years, Agriteam has facilitated sustainable and transformational change in: agriculture and rural development natural resource management private sector development social development human resource development education health and population gender equality governance/public sector reform corporate social responsibility

4 Agriteam around the world

5 Partnership A philosophy of engagement and partnership runs through everything we do Local ownership Practical approaches Socially acceptable Sustainable

6 The Issue Bombardier was contracted to build the railway cars for the China- Tibet railway The China- Tibet railway, overcoming major engineering challenges, created the first permanent linkage of its kind to Tibet from China 6

7 The Issue Tibetan ac5vists feared a huge rise in Chinese immigra5on and resource extrac5on Major protests ensued aimed at Bombardier by Tibetan ac5vists in Canada/US/Europe Disrup5ons at AGM Disrup5ons at air shows and other key sales events Ongoing campaign by Tibetan ac5vists protes5ng Bombardier s ac5vi5es 7

8 Agriteam s Solution Provide opportuni5es for Tibetans to benefit from change brought by the railway Work with local communi5es and government to develop a demand- driven project Provide avenues of exchange and understanding for ac5vist groups to understand what Bombardier/Agriteam was doing 8

9 The Project Developed Bombardier Tibet Tourism Training Project Iden5fied boom in tourism sector as a result of the railway and labour shortages in this area Designed project to provide tourism training to marginalized Tibetans to ensure they were able to benefit from growth brought by the train Focused on diploma training for prac5cal job skills as a low risk ac5vity 9

10 The Project Developed Bombardier Tibet Tourism Training Project Contracted staff and training ins5tu5on in China Linkages to Canada (Holland College, PEI) in order to provide quality assurance and a dual Canadian/ Chinese diploma Worked to get approval of government Selected candidates through transparent process Managed and implemented over 4 years 10

11 Social Risk Mitigation Developed communica5on strategy with county educa5on bureaus to inform them of project Project designed to work closely with local schools to iden5fy qualified Tibetan students without resources to aaend higher educa5on Transparent selec5on process 11

12 Political Risk Mitigation Tibet is hugely poli5cal projects and ac5vi5es must walk a 5ghtrope between both the Chinese government and Tibetan ac5vist groups Undertook risk mi5ga5on with both Chinese government and Tibetan ac5vist groups 12

13 Political Risk Mitigation Met with all levels of Chinese government Na5onal Provincial in Tibet AR Agriteam s reputa5on as neutral actor allowed project to proceed Signed project implemen5ng agreements with local partner Conducted ongoing liaison and repor5ng on project with key ministries in Tibet. 13

14 Political Risk Mitigation Met with all ac5vists groups to explain project, allay fears, explain Agriteam s role, Bombardier s role etc. Yearly sessions held on neutral territory at UBC s Asian studies centre to discuss issues Mee5ngs conducted under Chatham house rules to ensure freedom and openness Mee5ngs led by UBC staff members serving as facilitators 14

15 Results Project was successfully completed with 100% gradua5on rate of students 100% employment rate 90% in tourism sector 15

16 Next steps Through project, iden5fied need to improve performance measurement and repor5ng of community support- related ac5vi5es by Bombardier Developed detailed indicators for each element of Bombardier s 3E CSR/dona5ons strategy Developed process and repor5ng system for all funded Bombardier ac5vi5es Suppor5ng Bombardier compliance and repor5ng with GRI indicators 16

17 The End. And the Successful End of the Bombardier Tibet Tourism Training Project 17