Regreening conference a headscratcher for industry: mining reps, academics say Protocol needs local industry buy-in.

• Author: Myers, Ella
• Position: MINING - Conference news

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A protocol suggests a plan, and a plan is what's being asked of the Sudbury Protocol.

The protocol's first ever conference got off to a shaky start with plenty of questions thrust upon the organizers, and by the end of the conference, some had been answered, others not.

The Laurentian University initiative aims to take Sudbury's regreening expertise, gained over the last 40 years from repairing the environmental damage from mining, and package it for use by other communities around the world adversely impacted by industrial development.

The Sudbury Protocol was first announced in November and moved ahead with a conference in May. As they launched the conference, local experts expressed uncertainty about the business side of the project and what financial benefits the protocol is proposing.

"I'm still fundamentally confused by what you're trying to package. I'm asking you to create a business plan," said Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA), on the opening day of the three-day conference held at Dynamic Earth. "If you don't have a business plan, I can't sell it."

"Regreening is a pretty big deal, but it isn't what made the economy," said Laurentian economic professor David Robinson.

From an academic perspective, he said it's essential the university collaborate with industry through entities like a commercialization arm similar to MIRARCO, a mining innovation corporation attached to Laurentian.

John Gunn, director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre, agreed that reaching out to industry is essential.

"It can't be navel-gazing that we have all the answers ... it can't just be self-congratulatory courses," said Gunn, who added they need to create a product that brings the research out of the lab.

DeStefano favours a model that actively engages industry.

Supporting and engaging small to medium enterprises in the sector would be essential, said DeStefano, but he agreed with Robinson that there's not enough of an existing base of businesses involved in the regreening effort in Sudbury.

"If I get a call from Bolivia, is there anyone here who can recover a...