Earlier this year, we worked with the Halifax Port Authority (HPA) to support in the development of their 2018-2019 Sustainability Report. Our primary role was facilitating discussions with a multi-disciplinary team of HPA employees – the Sustainability Working Group (SWG) – to create content, discuss success stories, and strategize on the vision for the future of sustainability at HPA. This included two half-day sessions with the SWG and regular touchpoints with key HPA employees through the development and review of the report content.

We led our first session in Halifax with the SWG, discussing topics including what sustainability means in a port context, the integrated nature of sustainability, and the importance of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to tracking and reporting on sustainability indicators. We also worked to develop the structure for the report and the content that lives within it. The report is divided into the following sections: Our Leadership, Our Economy, Our Community, Our People, and Our Environment. These components represent key aspects of HPA as they relate to the core components of sustainability.

As the COVID-19 pandemic became more serious, we realized that our second facilitated session with the SWG would need to be done virtually. This session was related to the Sustainability & Strategic Planning: A Vision for the Future of Our Port section of the Report. During this session, we moved from discussing reporting (which is reflective and retroactive in nature) to planning (which is proactive and forward-thinking).

The second session started with brainstorming goals related to the future of sustainability and resilience at the Port. Then, we sorted the goals into the International Association of Ports & Harbours (IAPH) World Port Sustainability Program (WPSP) areas of interest: Climate & Energy, Community Outreach & Port-City Dialogue, Governance & Ethics, Resilient Infrastructure, and Safety & Security. We used Padlet, a virtual collaboration platform for the session, which helped to facilitate engagement and input from the SWG virtually.

One of the key themes that came through our work with HPA on this project was a commitment to incorporating sustainability into every aspect of their operations. We worked with HPA to create a space where a multi-disciplinary team could collaborate and cultivate a culture that values and feels empowered to integrate sustainability into their day to-day work.

You can find HPA’s announcement for (including a link to) the 2018-2019 Sustainability Report here.

Bronwyn Worrick | MBA, BA, ENV SP
Co-Founder & Consultant