The Forestry Lab
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A Time of Challenge
Forestry is a core component of Nova Scotia’s rural economy, but market pressures, economic downturn, mill closures, and supply constraints have created significant instability over the past decade. Historically, high levels of government support have been used to temper the impacts of these challenges. While that may have worked in the past, it is increasingly recognized that sector-led transformation is necessary for the forest industry to build a viable future. Public concerns about environmental impact and increasing calls for a multiple-value approach to resource management are also challenging the industry to operate differently. The public, stakeholder groups and Aboriginal communities have begun to play a major role in resource decision-making. At the same time, many rural communities have declining populations. Land ownership is passing from a generation that tended to work in the forest themselves to one that no longer depends on their land as a source of income. Ownership is now motivated by a wider set of values, and active participation in forest management is dependent on the ability of foresters, harvesting contractors and other service providers to meet those values. With the majority of the industry’s wood supply coming from private land, this shift in demographics and motivations requires substantial adaptation. Small-scale management capacity is being lost, and current industrial harvesting capacity often can only be deployed at a scale largely requiring the liquidation all timber on a property. As a result, woodlot owner participation rates are declining. |
The NSWOOA Response
From September 2015 through June 2017, the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association hosted a unique project called “The Forestry Lab” to address challenges in Nova Scotia’s forestry sector. We were well suited to take on the project. We are an organization with decades of credibility on forestry issues, and we represent individuals and businesses that experience these problems every day. We believe that the current challenges in forestry call for significant transformation in order to foster a viable future. While transformation needs to occur at many levels, 70% of wood supply for the industry comes from private land in Nova Scotia, and we have a unique opportunity to affect change in this context. It is clear that traditional advocacy-based approaches are not up to the task of addressing the scope of issues we face. The challenges are beyond any one individual, stakeholder group, or government to solve. Solutions at this scale can only come from collaborative work that gives rise to new insights from understanding all perspectives. Collaborative effort can also shift the pattern of blame and public outcry that has created further instability in the sector. Rather than continuing to talk about problems and expecting someone else to solve them, NSWOOA sought to bring leading methods of social entrepreneurship and business innovation to the Forestry Lab process to take on the current challenges. |
What was The Forestry Lab?
The process we used comes from an established approach for “social labs” that has been pioneered around the world. Strong examples of social labs can be seen in issues as diverse as food security (www.sustainablefood.org) and tax reform (www.financeinnovationlab.org). There are many examples from multiples sectors to draw upon, but simply put a social lab is just like any other type of lab – it is a stable platform to support the work of understanding a problem and experimenting to find its solution. The difference lies in the tools being applied when the problem being addressed is more fundamentally social in nature.
The Forestry Lab focused on business model innovation that was intended to align the industry with existing and potential competitive advantages from operating in Nova Scotia; the long-term productive capacity of our forests; and the values of our communities.
The Lab hoped to be an incubator for new business ideas, particularly in the areas of new technologies, harvesting capacity and supply from private woodlots. Prototypes in the form of business start-ups, service delivery models, policy reforms, etc., tested ways to address key problems and issues facing the sector.
The Lab also trained leaders from across the sector in emerging business development concepts and methods. This not only supported Forestry Lab prototypes, but also introduced these skills to the sector for use in future collaborations and business planning.
The Lab was built on significant levels of stakeholder engagement, with better collaboration and conflict resolution as an outcome. We hoped this would reduce unpredictability related to public pressures on natural resource management, which is an increasingly significant risk factor for the industry.
The Forestry Lab was an exceptional project. It had strong support from government, forest products businesses and environmental NGOs.
The process we used comes from an established approach for “social labs” that has been pioneered around the world. Strong examples of social labs can be seen in issues as diverse as food security (www.sustainablefood.org) and tax reform (www.financeinnovationlab.org). There are many examples from multiples sectors to draw upon, but simply put a social lab is just like any other type of lab – it is a stable platform to support the work of understanding a problem and experimenting to find its solution. The difference lies in the tools being applied when the problem being addressed is more fundamentally social in nature.
The Forestry Lab focused on business model innovation that was intended to align the industry with existing and potential competitive advantages from operating in Nova Scotia; the long-term productive capacity of our forests; and the values of our communities.
The Lab hoped to be an incubator for new business ideas, particularly in the areas of new technologies, harvesting capacity and supply from private woodlots. Prototypes in the form of business start-ups, service delivery models, policy reforms, etc., tested ways to address key problems and issues facing the sector.
The Lab also trained leaders from across the sector in emerging business development concepts and methods. This not only supported Forestry Lab prototypes, but also introduced these skills to the sector for use in future collaborations and business planning.
The Lab was built on significant levels of stakeholder engagement, with better collaboration and conflict resolution as an outcome. We hoped this would reduce unpredictability related to public pressures on natural resource management, which is an increasingly significant risk factor for the industry.
The Forestry Lab was an exceptional project. It had strong support from government, forest products businesses and environmental NGOs.