Centre for Industrial Port Expertise (CEIP)
Partners
The Center for Industrial Port Expertise is funded by the Government of Quebec.
a division of inrest
The mission of the Centre for Industrial Port Expertise (Centre d’Expertise Industrialo-Portuaire; CEIP – a division of INREST) aims to offer services and scientific expertise in environment and occupational health and safety. Experts and researchers from various sectors provide industry and port managers from the St. Lawrence, Quebec, Canada, and abroad, with centralized services in research and development, as well as technical support adapted to issues relating to the environmental challenges of managing and operating industrial port zones. All this is done in accordance with the Environmental Quality Act, the Sustainable Development Act, the Environmental Assessment Act, and any other applicable legislation.
The flagship project of the CEIP is to establish environmental observatories and equipping Quebec’s maritime territory with environmental management tools, including real-time data collection, as prescribed by the “Enviro=Actions” model. Thus, new developers will benefit from neutral scientific data with social acceptability. Having this data available in real-time will allow to reduce delays and costs linked to acquiring data during environmental permit applications.
Any business, industry, government organization, municipality, indigenous community, port authorities or port can become a member of the CEIP by applying and paying subscription fees.
Distinctive features and advantages
- Ensures confidentiality in project and case management;
- Common research fund as a leverage for government subsidies;
- Allows to group together, within a same project, the common needs of different industrial-, port-, and municipal areas, as well as the significant common costs for these projects;
- A multidisciplinary team of experts and scientists, managed by a third party having experience in managing projects involving industries, municipalities, government agencies, as well as corporate social responsibility, offering:
- a neutral scientific credibility favouring social acceptability;
- decision-making support linked to ecosystem conservation and environmental management;
- scientific support for public outreach, making data and results easy to understand for the public
How it works
Direct participation in research in industrial port areas
Members of CEIP have the possibility to participate in one or more research projects in industrial- and/or port areas in which they are interested. They will notably have access to the expertise of hundreds of researchers, including members of Québec-Océan (regrouping scientists and partners or several Quebec universities, ministries, non-governmental organisations and federal research laboratories).
They also have the possibility to participate in events such as traning days or conferences relating to industrial and/or port themese. These events are an opportunity to present ongoing projects and allow for an exchange and transfer of knowledge and expertise between research members and stakeholders of the research and innovation community. Additionally to having the opportunity to participate to the validation of tools and techniques used in industrial and port areas, members will also have access to all data resulting from the collective CEIP research, as well as pilot laboratories and factories through our partners, and to various sampling equipment and tools.
Sharing the costs and the risks of common research
Research activities are partially funded by our members’ subscription. Members will be entitled to fiscal advantages on their membership fees to the Centre for expertise. Thus, under the Quebec Taxation Law (LIQ), businesses may reclaim a tax credit, repayable by 35% on the fees paid to the Centre., insofar as these fees are used to for R&D in Quebec.
It is not necessary for a business to be established in Quebec in order to benefit from this advantage, but it must operate a business in Canada.
Participation in common research
Some members are involved in the decision-making process; others are able to get involved by submitting their research priorities by applying to the Executive Committee.
Executive committee
Each member may present themselves to the Executive Committee (EC). Members of the committee are elected every year for a period of two years. The Executive Committee decides on the main direction of research projects. This committee receives, analyses and selects research projects submitted by the scientific committee, which will be carried out in the context of common research.
Scientific committee
The Scientific Committee (SC) plays an important role in guiding research activities, to ensure, on the one hand, the scientific merit and validity of research projects proposed by members; and also plays an important role in the development of projects submitted to the Executive Committee for the CEIP’s annual project selection. On the other hand, the EC will ensure that the projects fall within the mission of the CEIP.
Key project of CEIP
Enviro-Actions Project
Implanting environmental observatories and equipping Industrial Port Zones of Quebec’s maritime territory
Numerous studies show that anthropogenic activities have an impact on the environment, ecosystems, and biodiversity. It is therefore essential to understand environmental stress factors in Industrial Port Zones (IPZs) and to monitor changes in basic natural conditions.
Following the success of the Environmental Monitoring Observatory for the Bay of Sept-Îles and in the aim to adapt the knowledge and skills acquired, INREST has developed the preventative management model “Enviro-Actions” in order to address the specific needs of IPZ economic development managers.
- To implant environmental observatories in industrial port zones around Quebec’s maritime territory
- To establish an environmental monitoring mechanism in near-real-time by instrumentalizing IPZs, in order to obtain an up-to-date state of environmental quality
- To ensure a comprehensive management approach by including multidisciplinary scientific expertise, allowing to understand the current state of the IPZ in question thanks to existing data
- To adapt existing protocols in order to measure and prevent environmental impacts to the IPZ’s ecosystem, thus implementing a preventative management mode instead of an intervention-based mode
- Equip stakeholders for decision-making and then environmental management, with a view to sustainable development (shipping, Port Authorities, municipalities, etc.)
- Address concerns from the public, thereby favouring social acceptability
- This project focuses on sustainable development goals by acting in a preventative manner
- Data available in near-real-time will reduce delays and costs linked to:
- Environmental authorization requests
- Intervention-based management modes
- The model will be transferable and adaptable to other Quebec IPZs located in marine and freshwater environments
- Both existing businesses and new developers will benefit from neutral scientific data
- This project will enhance social acceptability through transparent communications
