Mission accomplished for the first sustainable development symposium organized by four local economic development organizations. The event, which took place on Wednesday November 1 at the Hôtel du Jardin in Saint-Félicien, attracted 150 people.

The idea for this symposium came from a discussion held about a year ago. At that time, the organizers realized that each organization was proposing small activities.

“We said to ourselves, ‘Why don’t we get together and take things a step further? We have to admit that, with 150 participants, our proposal was well received. It exceeded our expectations, as we had set ourselves a target of 80 people. We’re really pleased with the response,” explains Marc Tremblay, DG at SADC Lac-Saint-Jean Ouest.

The aim of the symposium was to give companies ideas for taking action. The aim was to support them in taking concrete steps towards sustainable development.

“The morning was lighter in terms of content, with exchanges between participants. In the afternoon, however, we went further into our topics.”

Speakers and workshops on a variety of themes ensured that participants returned home with a wealth of additional knowledge.

A second edition

In view of the success of this first edition, Marc Tremblay believes it is highly likely that there will be a second edition next year.

“We don’t know yet, at least for the moment, what the content of the next symposium will be. This type of activity fills a need for companies looking for support in dealing with all the regulations they have to deal with”.

For the organizers, SADC Lac-Saint-Jean Ouest, SADC Maria-Chapdelaine and the Domaine-du-Roy and Maria-Chapdelaine MRCs, it was important to hold this kind of exercise in Saint-Félicien rather than in Alma or Saguenay, as is often the case.