Inter-firm cooperation strategies to develop environmental best practices in the Colombian shipyard industry

The present work aims to develop strategies that allow implementingenvironmental best practices inthe Colombian shipyard industry, a sector that has been growing for the last decade and that is identified as a potential world-class industry in the country. Collaborative work was carried out with four of the biggest Colombian shipyards and an international firm to identify legal and operational issues regarding the industrial activity, to reach unified consensus to represent the whole sector. Finally, an environmental best practices document was elaborated to guideshipyard operationsin the country, with the potential to be constituted as an official guide of the Colombian Ministry for the Environment.

Inter-firm cooperation strategies to develop environmental best practices in the Colombian shipyard industry The Colombian shipyard industry represents an emerging sector of the national economy, with significant progress during the last decade that has led to itsestablishment as a strategic sector in the department of Bolívar, one of the principal coastal regions in the country.
Shipyard operations involve a broad range of processes like abrasive blasting and vessel maintenance and materials like Marine Coatings and Antifoulants, which are both especially prone to polluting the surrounding air, water, and soil (PPRC, 2008).Shipyards and related industries can significantly impact the environment of many coastal cities.Based on this, it is important to develop Environmental Best Practices (EBP) in the industry, parallel to technological and economic growth, to manage pollution, evaluate impacts, study recycling/treatment and disposal alternatives, and review regulatory compliance.
International experiences support the creation of a network to develop EBP.Based on this, special interest has emerged in literature and policy systems to createmechanisms that enable the growth of industrial sectors and their integration with government and academy, seeking to increase technological capabilities and competitiveness (Dewick and Miozzo, 2004;Felzensztein, et al., 2010), allowing innovation to occur within the company's products and processes (Brioschi et al., 2002;Nieto and Santamaria, 2007;cited by Zeng, et al., 2010).
Several authors argue that one of the principal factors that influence learning and innovation capabilities among companies is geographic proximity (Porter, 1998;Freel, 2003;Felzensztein, et al., 2010), which is why some countries have developed regional strategies around technologies or industrial sectors.
In Colombia, the government has led diverse cluster initiatives during the last decade, like regional competitiveness plans and the Productive Several players have participated in this collaborative process, including national and international companies, the academy,and associations, enabling the elaboration of a preliminary document to be presented to the Ministry for the Environment and its eventual adoption by the companies of the industrial sector.The process is shown in Fig. 2.

Baseline
The process started with the construction of a Baseline of the environmental activity of the national shipbuilding sector.A pilot group was selected for this phase, including four of the most representative shipyards in Cartagena (2), Barranquilla (1), and Urabá (1), along with a world-class shipyard located in Chile .These companies were selected by taking into account their production processes, products and services portfolio, and the environment where they operate.
Every facility was visited to analyze processes and their impact upon the environment, as well as to learn of the EBT actually being developed by each company.

Guide Production
With the baseline defined, the production process was performed via three workshops: Law and Regulations review, identification of Environmental Impacts, and Environmental Management Plan.
The discussion was developed by considering shipyard construction and operations.The methodology andmain results obtainedfrom each workshop are presented below.

Workshop 1: Law and Regulations review
Shipyard activities in Colombia are not obligated to have Environmental Licenses, but they need to secure certain permissions and authorizations from the environmental authorities (forest utilization, water concessions, liquids dumping, dangerous and/or solid residues, etc.).In this process, all the procedures and templates required were identified.
A special chapter was developed in the Guide reviewing this aspect.
Environmental management in the colombian shipyard industry: the sectorial process

National and International Benchmarking
Colaborative work with national shipyard sector Presentation of results to the Academy, Industrial Sector, and the Ministry The environment provides human beings important resources for development, like raw materials and energy.A small amount of these resources are renewable, which is why their proper management is required.

Guide Dissemination
Every activity generates an impact on the environment.The level of these impacts depends on the vulnerabilityof the elements of the ecosystem where the industrial activity is being undertaken.The guide contains all the impacts identified and the plans to prevent, control, or mitigate them, as shown in Fig. 4.
Identification of impacts was performed by using a cause-effect matrix that contained the activities and the possible impacts according to previously definedprocesses and aspects.Every environmental  The document is currently being adapted with the feedback from the Academy and the Industrial Sector.Once this stage is completed, the document will be presented to the Colombian Ministry for the Environment to be incorporated as a formal guide representing shipyard operations.
The Colombian shipyard sector is an industry that has been growing for the last decade and has the potential of becoming consolidated as a world-class industry in the long term.As the sector increases its industrial and technological capabilities, it is important to develop EBP to guarantee sustainability.
The existing mechanisms to develop EBP in Colombia are the environmental guides.There are 45 guides currently operating, and there is a possibility to develop new ones if the Colombian Ministry for the Environment considers it appropriate.
This project is part of the sectorial strategies led by COTECMAR to increase the competitiveness of the shipyard sector and its national recognition.
The results obtained can be used to optimize operations and construction of national and international shipyards and, also, as a reference on network collaborative work.BRIOSCHI, F., BRIOSCHI, M.S., CAINELLI, G. (2002).From the industrial district to the district group: an insight into the evolution of local capitalism in Italy.

Guide Dissemination
Conclusions

Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo Guía Ambiental para la Industria Astillera Colombiana
In Colombia, the Science and Technology Corporation for the Development of the Naval, Maritime, and Riverine Industries -COTECMAR is the leading company of the shipyard industry and hasinitiatedseveral strategies with the support of the national government and the academy to strengthen the sector with regards to aspects like technological capabilities, local supply chain, trade regulations, and environmental management, as Introduction Papanikolaou Shipyards Network Goal: Increase exports of Shipyard sector Shipyards National Committee Goal: National recognition of Shipyard industry Policy Management Goal: Trade regulations Competitiveness Plan Goal: Sector Competitiveness Suppliers Development Goal: ISO 9001:2008 Certi cation of Shipyard industry's suppliers Enviromental Guide Goal: Enviromental best practices on the Shipyard industry Shipyards Cluster Goal: Develop one of the potential world-class sector on Bolivar's region Workshop on Identification of Environmental ImpactsInter-firm cooperation strategies to develop environmental best practices in the Colombian shipyard industry