Materials Count The Case for Material Flows Analysis (2004) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Importance of Partnership in the Conduct of Material Flows Accounting
6 The Importance of Partnership in the Conduct of Material Flows Accounting
Pages 69-82
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From page 69... ...
Flawed or inadequate material flows accounts may lead to inappropriate decisions and actions. As such, it is crucial that material flows accounting activities be highly participatory and collaborative among parties with appropriate material flows accounting expertise, relevant process knowledge, and familiarity with the appropriate data sets.
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From page 70... ...
There are fewer true collaborative partnerships with shared active participation. The three examples briefly described below, while all relevant to material flows accounting, represent different lines of inquiry and are illustrative of the wide array of participatory experiences that can occur.
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From page 71... ...
The database is being designed to support public and private sector efforts to develop environmentally oriented decision systems and tools; to provide regional benchmark data for generating or assessing company, plant, or new-technology data; and to provide a firm foundation for subsequent life-cycle assessment tasks such as characterization, normalization, and impact assessments. The concept of partnership, its value in material flows accounting, and the characteristics of effective partners that have made these examples illustrative of good collaboration are described next.
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From page 72... ...
A deliberate attempt to include partners in material flows account data development and account execution would result in early buy-in, more informed and more robust analyses, participatory decision making, compromise, and understanding of the range of positions, options, variables, and uncertainties. These objectives are common to all participants in a collaborative material flows accounting scheme.
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From page 73... ...
Advisory review involves independent critical evaluation of objectives, scope, and work products in various stages of completion to ensure the robustness of the data from conception to completion. All three forms of partnership will be vital to the success of material flows accounting.
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From page 75... ...
However, such intervention is now waning to the point at which present-day data integrity is impacting the quality of technical analyses. Currently, databases used for commodity material flows analyses are uneven in quality and require careful scrutiny.
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From page 76... ...
Data quality and management are critical. Database managers will be critical participants in material flows accounting activities.
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From page 77... ...
Furthermore, database managers are not consistently and effectively engaged as partners. Partnerships deteriorate or end when the quality of information being supplied by any participant is judged to be inferior or to seriously impair the quality of the work product.
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From page 78... ...
. In a competitive marketplace, government regulations, consumer preferences, and downstream manufacturing pressures can drive industrial data or processes to be considered as confidential business information.
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From page 79... ...
Despite the obvious disadvantages, there may be valid reasons for not promoting transparent partnership, usually related to the sensitivities and impacts of a material flows analysis outcome. Potential impacts from an analysis outcome may compel the practitioner to hold a database in close confidence, at least until it is completed, for reasons that include the following: · The outcome of the material flows analysis process may, depending on its nature, impact policy, strategy, or future action that is significant to individuals, groups, or society at large.
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From page 80... ...
Further, since metals and minerals represent a global commodity, sharing information on a more international scale would result in more effective application of material flows accounting for policies and practices consistent with sustainability in regional and global contexts. This might include global partnerships with other North American, European, Latin American, or Asian entities charged with the development of their own databases.
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From page 81... ...
The committee concludes that partnerships are critical to developing and maintaining material flows accounts. The most effective partnerships are those based on stable, trusting relationships among partners over time where all gain from the compiled information, and these partnerships will be critical to the success of material flows accounting.
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From page 82... ...
Important objectives for encouraging collaborative participation in the concluct of material flows accounting include the following: To facilitate the completeness of an account To overcome proprietary obstacles To foster the development of accurate data on industrial processes and product manufacturing · To strengthen the reliability of the material flows accounting outcome, To pool and share resources (technical skills, manpower, cofunding, data) A deliberate attempt to include partners in material flows account data development and account execution would result in early buy-in, more informed and more robust analyses, participatory decision making, PRE-PUBLICATION VERSION, SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL CHANGES
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