In March, FSC Canada’s Western Manager, Orrin Quinn, attended the Design for Freedom Summit at Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut. The annual event brought together over 650 leaders from across the built environment sector to focus on upholding and supporting human rights by removing forced and child labour from the building materials supply chain.
Orrin participated in two sessions at the summit. First, as part of a plenary panel entitled "Generational Forest Stewardship on Haida Gwaii" with Leticia Hill, CEO of HaiCo, and Jeff Mosher, Chief Forester at Taan Forest. During the session FSC Canada’s certification systems were discussed as well as the use of labels and FSC’s labor requirements. Quinn also shared details about the relationship with Taan Forest and the Haida people over the past several years.
In a breakout session titled "Ethical Decarbonization with Mass Timber," Quinn provided an overview of FSC forest management certification, including the standard and the key benefits of sourcing FSC-certified products. The session also covered different wood species that can be used in mass timber construction and the importance of understanding forest management practices when making purchasing decisions.
The relationship and involvement with Grace Farms started when they expressed interest in sourcing FSC-certified Western Red Cedar from Haida Gwaii. They were so interested in the provenance of the wood that Grace Farms' founder, Sharon Prince, and their lead architect participated in a forest tour on Haida Gwaii last November. Inspired by the trip, Grace Farms then invited Taan Forest's Chief Forester and CEO, as well as Orrin Quinn, to present at their Design for Freedom Summit in New Canaan.
"My hope is that the forest tour and Summit mark the start of a long relationship with Grace Farms and its associates," Quinn said. This summit provided an incredible chance to learn more about the impacts of forced and child labour, the importance of being aware of purchasing habits and supply chain practices and also to share more about FSC’s forest management standard and requirements with architects, designers and leaders in the built environment.
For more information on Grace Farms and the Summit, please click here.