On Thu-Mar-30, John conducted a guest lecture for Dr. Stephane McLachlan's ENVR 4110 - Critical Thinking and the Environment at the University of Manitoba. The discussion explored Frontiers North Adventures' corporate social responsibility track record and invited a critically constructive discussion of the company and its practices.

1. Critical Thinking and the Environment
John Gunter

2. We inspire our guests to become invested in the
places we take them.

3. Frontiers North Adventures
• Expert-guided tours in Canada’s north since ’79.
• Best access in the world to wild polar bears.
• Significant investments in Churchill.
• Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
• One of 11 hand-picked inaugural Canadian
Tourism Commission Signature Experiences.

5. Churchill’s Three Main
Tourism Seasons
• Winter northern lights.
• Summer beluga whales and polar bears.
• Autumn polar bears.

29. Core values
• Above all we are hosts.
• Invested in the communities and environments in
which we operate.
• Passionate to share the resources that have been
made available to us.

30. Important to FNA
• Safety of guests, staff and wildlife.
• Experiences hinged on wildlife as well as culture.
• Answer “why”, not “what”.
• Business built on a solid CSR framework.
• We’re a leisure travel tourism company.

31. Identified Consumer Needs
• To acquire a sense of place.
• To remain safe, engaging, inspired.
• To become invested in their experience with us.

32. Trends We’ve Noticed
• Time is our guests’ most precious commodity.
Price is not.
• Wi-fi.
• Emphasis on cuisine.
• Travel goals aligned with desire to do good.

33. Climate Change Front Line
• 2006 - An Inconvenient Truth.
• 2008 - Peak climate change.
• 2010-2015 - Muzzling of Canadian scientists.
• 2017 - …

34. Corporate Social
Responsibility
1. Environmental Practices.
2. Workforce and Employees.
3. Community Commitment.
4. Education.
5. Corporate Giving.

35. 1. Environmental Practices
• Utilize existing trail network.
• Manage against environmental impact assessment.
• Grey water management.
• Replaced electric block heaters with diesel-fired units.

40. 2. Workforce & Employees
• Staff direct action planning.
• Profit sharing up to 10% of salaries.
• Code of Conduct and Workplace Respect policies.
• Diverse Workplace:
- 11% of our staff are Indigenous.
- 11% represent a visible minority.
- 43% of management team are women.

41. 3. Community Commitment
• We’re from Churchill.
• $1.8M investment = ~ $8M economic activity.
• Purchasing policy favours local, Aboriginal suppliers.
• Employ locals if possible, FNA goal to be world class.
• Leakage - 35 seasonal employee

46. 4. Education
• Nobody buys a “learning vacation”.
• We work with the best guides in Canada.
• Share contemporary and traditional knowledge.
• PolarBearCam with Polar Bears Int’l & explore.org.

51. 4. Education
Polar Bears International:
• PBI Climate Alliance and Leadership Camps.
• PBI Tundra Connections.
• PBI Field Ambassadors.
• PBI Citizen Science.
• Polar Bear Cam (FNA, PBI, explore.org).

54. Kyle Schutt Director Discovery® Communications
Seth Stapleton Postdoctoral at University of Minnesota
Dr. Thomas Smith Brigham Young University
Jody Reimer Graduate Student at University of Alberta
Dr. Don Moore Smithsonian's National Zoo
Dr. Steve Amstrup Chief Scientist for Polar Bears International
Geoff York Sr. Dir. of Conservation for Polar Bears International
Dr. Andrew Derocher University of Alberta
Dr. Megan Owen • Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo
Cecilia Bitz Polar Science Center, University of Washington
Terry Godwaldt The Centre for Global Education
Alysa McCall Field Programs Manager for Polar Bears International
Dr. Stephen Petersen International Polar Bear Conservation Centre
Dr. Jennifer Kay University of Colorado

55. 300,000
600,000
900,000
1,200,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Polar Bear Cams Tundra Connections
Polar Bears International - Viewership

56. 1,750,000
3,500,000
5,250,000
7,000,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Polar Bear Cams Tundra Connections
Polar Bears International - Viewership

57. Location, infrastructure, logistics
Engineering, subject matter experts
Video-serving, PR, media

58. 5. Corporate Giving
• Total corporate giving to exceeds national standards
of 1% of pre-tax profits measured by the Canadian
Business for Social Responsibility.
• FNA 2016 corporate giving was 2% of pre-tax profit,
2014 was 6% (due to lower profit).

59. Corporate Social
Responsibility
1. Environmental Practices.
2. Workforce and Employees.
3. Community Commitment.
4. Education.
5. Corporate Giving.

60. Corporate Social
Responsibility - Report
• Three years in the making.
• Based on Global Reporting Index (GRI) framework.
• Refined to focus on environment, people and
community.
• We’re not aware of another tourism company in
Canada the size of Frontiers North Adventures
attempting to do anything like this.

63. Criticisms
• FNA takes money out of the community.
• FNA doesn’t provide job opportunities for locals.
• FNA part of a duopoly on Churchill’s polar bears.

64. Criticisms
• Diesel Tundra Buggies conflict with sustainability
goals.
• PBI is clever marketing by FNA.
• Emphasis too much on physical science.

65. Thank you!
@JohnGunter
FrontiersNorth.com
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