The original project was straightforward. Newfoundland and Labrador Forestry Industry Association and a team of researchers from Environmental Policy Institute at Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland wanted to explore the ways the industry could develop new products and strengthen the bio-economy sector in the province. The project was funded through a Newfoundland and Labrador Workforce Innovation Centre research grant. They asked my office to help them with public engagement component of that process. There are three lumber mills and a pulp and paper mill in the province that anchor the industry. The idea was that each of those sites will host a tour and a regional discussion with local residents to figure out what are some of the most promising opportunities they could develop given the assets they, as a region, have at their disposal. Facilitating these kinds of discussions is my job. A colleague and I share 30+ years of facilitation experience and are quite comfortable doing that kind of stuff. With the raging pandemic, tours and in-person discussions were not an option, but the research team wanted to proceed with the work and asked us if we could figure out how to move the public engagement component of the project into a virtual environment.
To be honest, I was sceptical that we would be able to translate what is normally a day of conversations at each site into a meaningful online engagement. But, we decided to give it a shot.
We knew that one crucial aspect of this whole process was to be able to show the residents what a saw mill or a paper mill looks like as an industrial operation today. We decided to use my experience with 70/70 project and create a series of longer audio-slideshows that would give the participants a sense of the issues the industry is facing, the assets and skills they have at their disposal, and the sense of what a modern mill looks like. All of the lumber mills are family businesses and the pulp and paper mill is a part of a larger corporation based outside of the province, but the mill itself has a long history and huge cultural, social and economic significance for the City of Corner Brook on the west coast of Newfoundland. I interviewed the owners and operators and created four different 15-minute videos (Sexton, Cottles Island, Burton’s Cove, and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper). In addition, we created an interactive website using a dedicated engagement platform that allowed participants to view the videos and comment and submit ideas and questions throughout the process. We also held a series of video conferences for each region that my colleague facilitated and, eventually, an in-person event at the end of the process once the public health restrictions were lifted. Instead of creating a typical “what we heard” report for that last event, we produced a 20 minute video report highlighting some of the topics that came up in the conversations with the owners and operators. If you are going to watch any of the videos, I would recommend that one.
So what did we learn from all of this?
Audio-slideshows were effective in telling the story, but they were not a good substitute for the physical experience of that environment - nothing is.
Virtual engagement is not a substitute for in-person conversations, but it can work if you design the facilitation carefully and keep the online conversation to an hour or so.
The audio-slideshows I made are not documentary films. I did not fact-check the claims owners/operators made, I did not present other viewpoints or engage with environmental issues, for example. Sometimes, it was hard to take everything at face value and accept that what I am making is not a hardcore documentary, but an informational video that is a beginning of the discussion and not the discussion itself.
What did work better than an in-person visit was the ability to hear a long, focused conversation with mill owners and operators. If we had 30 or 40 people on a tour, the information they would have received would have been very different and probably not as nuanced as a formal interview. If I had to do this again, I think I would like to do both - in person visit and the taped conversation. I think the videos made the owners and operators feel heard and that was important to the process and very productive in terms of helping others understand the opportunities and the issues the industry is dealing with.
The “what we heard” report in a video format was a far superior product to a traditional written report. I would without hesitation recommend it in situations where that is appropriate.
Dedicated on-line engagement tool was probably not necessary. We could have accomplished the same thing with a regular website or even a Substack publication. The value of the site was in storing all of the information in one place including things like ethics protocols and overall project information.
Black and white photography worked well. The colour, with a range of bright yellow and red safety markings and warnings was way too distracting. Focusing on the industrial space also allowed me to showcase some of the history and assets that may have been missed in a group tour.
I incorporated short video clips into the slideshows. They were effective as storytelling devices, but I am confident that the focus on still photography was more effective than if I made a full motion picture. I am biased here.
This approach does not work in all environments, but it is an effective tool to have at your disposal if you need it.
There is a skill set necessary to do this that is not valued in academia. This may be harsh, but, in my experience, a lot of academics feel that they could do this kind of work if they put their mind to it. You can’t. Just as it took decades to get where you are in your field, it took decades for me to get where I am. And your students definitely can’t do it. There are, of course, exceptions to this.
If you are a researcher or a community consultant and you want to do something like this, hire a professional. Seriously. Documentary photographers are problem solvers and they would love to get involved in something like this. They see the world differently than you do and will bring a lot more to the table than what you are paying them for.
Modern lumber mill operation is remarkably complex and technologically advanced. It’s nothing like you imagine it to be.
If I did not have access to professional photo and audio equipment, I could have done this whole thing with my phone - I think that’s incredible. I am not saying you should do it with your phone. I am just saying that if you had to, you could.