Ryerson CSR Institute talk: Unpacking the Peru-BHP Billiton Tintaya Dialogue Table-Jan 19-2015

Ryerson University’s Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility is pleased to present a talk by mining industry consultant Paul Warner entitled: "Unpacking the Peru-BHP Billiton Tintaya Dialogue Table.” The talk is based on his involvement in one of the mining industry’s longest-lasting and most constructive community dialogue processes. It will also include the remote participation, from Peru, of Lucio Ríos, one of the founders of the Dialogue process.

The talk will take place on Monday, January 19 from 12-1:30 pm, in TRS 3-119 (9th floor), in Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management (55 Dundas Street West). The event is co-sponsored by the Ryerson CSR Student Association, the Ryerson Commerce and Government Association, the Ryerson MBA Mining Stream, and the Chang School Mining Management Certificate.

There is no admission for this event, but seating is limited, and you must register in advance at http://ryerson-csr-institute-unpacking-peru-dialogue.eventbrite.ca

On December 10, 2001, a small group of community leaders, local authorities and NGO representatives sat down in Lima with representatives of BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified mining company, and BHP Billiton Tintaya, its Peruvian subsidiary. The group demanded that its concerns – about forced displacement, environmental impact, livelihoods and alleged human rights violations – be heard and addressed. To their surprise, the people from the company responded, in effect, “Yes, let’s talk. How do you want to do it?” So began an eleven-year dialogue process that allowed the parties to move past their prejudices and preconceptions, to build trust in each other, to address legitimate concerns, and to make real, positive changes in the lives of community members living near the company’s mine. The process survived external shocks, changes in community and company leadership, and even the sale of the mine from BHP Billiton to Xstrata in 2006. Although the dialogue process came to an end in 2012, it still provides lessons that are valuable today both for mining companies and for communities that are, or could be, affected by mining.

In 2011, a group of researchers at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University who had been part of the team of John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, made a short documentary film about the case (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcMfbB0qsXE). This event will include a screening and discussion of that documentary, with the participation of one of its protagonists, Lucio Ríos, who was Tintaya’s Deputy General Manager until 2006.

About Paul Warner

Paul Warner is Principal Consultant at Both Sides Now Consulting Inc., a Toronto-based community relations consulting practice that he founded in 2009. He has more than thirty years of experience in the mining industry and has specialized in community engagement and community development since 1997. Past roles have included responsibility for engagement with community stakeholders at the Alumbrera project in Argentina and at the Antamina, La Granja, and Tintaya projects in Peru. Between 2002 and 2009 he was Community Relations Manager, first for BHP Billiton’s Base Metals group and then for the company globally. His main role was to build the capacity of the company’s community professionals to engage effectively. More recently, he was Manager of Social Responsibility at Carbones del Cerrejón in Colombia, the world’s largest open pit coal mine. His most recent consulting work has been on mining projects and operations in Mexico, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

Event Details at a Glance:

Title: Unpacking the Peru-BHP Billiton Tintaya Dialogue Table

Speaker: Paul Warner, with Lucio Ríos

Time: Monday, January 19, 2014, 12 noon to 1:30 pm

Location: Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 55 Dundas West, Toronto, ON, Room TRS 3-119, 55 Dundas West, Toronto

There is no admission for this event, but seating is limited, and you must register in advance at: http://ryerson-csr-institute-unpacking-peru-dialogue.eventbrite.ca

For further information concerning the Ryerson University CSR Institute, go to: - http://www.ryerson.ca/csrinstitute/

Or contact Dr. Kernaghan Webb - kernaghan.webb@ryerson.ca

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