Forum d’analyses géopolitiques des ressources naturelles (Forum for Geopolitical Analyses of Natural Resources)

FORAGE is a tool allowing researchers and partner public and private entities and associations to liaise and transfer knowledge on natural resources.

Scientific director: Patrick González, Department of Economics

Background

Natural resources are a key national and international issue, particularly when it comes to energy. Be it oil, gas, hydroelectricity, or mineral resources, these issues should not remain the preserve of a few experts. Citizens, investors, business people, pressure groups, and public administrators are all concerned.

To meet this need, we undertake research projects and organize symposiums, talks, and workshops with our partners.

Mission

FORAGE’s mission is to:

• Acquire, validate, and disseminate knowledge on the geopolitical variables of natural resources, especially those related to the international energy transition 
• Provide a forum for discussion and consultations on major international natural resource issues among experts and decision-makers from the scientific, governmental, and private sectors and associations in Québec, Canada, and around the world
• Create a network of experts to provide businesses, associations, government, the media, and other stakeholders with a comprehensive source of information and expertise on the global geopolitics of natural resources and the challenges and position of the sector in Québec and Canada. 
• Foster scientific collaboration among Canadian researchers on themes of common interest related to the geopolitics of natural resources.
• Conduct joint policy analyses on global issues facing Canadian governments. Research topics include:
  • Geopolitical analysis of the world scene (focus on certain sensitive areas and the Americas). This geopolitical approach focuses on political, security, economic, financial, legal, and environmental risks
  • International economic analyses (cost structure, social costs, competitiveness, product substitution, prices, rate setting, royalties, and taxation)
  • Institutional analyses (state capitalism, legal constraints, regulation, deregulation, dynamics of financial flows, network industries). 

Projects

• The Québec-Calgary Brainline, a discussion forum for researchers from the University of Calgary (The School of Public Policy) and ESEI. The Brainline pursues the same objectives as FORAGE, applying them to the relationship between Québec and Alberta. Québec and Alberta are energy powerhouses that have everything to gain by cooperating more.
• École internationale d’été sur la géopolitique des ressources naturelles, whose first edition was held in 2014 at Université Laval. Since then, the summer school has been held alternately in Québec City (even-numbered years) and Calgary (odd-numbered years). 
• An international conference on natural resources, Géopolitique du secteur minier: le Nord du Québec sur l’échiquier mondial (Geopolitics of the Mining Tndustry: Northern Québec on the World Stage) was held on March 13, 2015 at Université Laval. 

Members

• Georges Beaudoin
  Professor, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering
  NSERC/Agnico-Eagle Industrial Research Chair in Mineral Exploration
• Olivier Boiral
  Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration

• Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Development Management Standards, Université Laval

• Yan Cimon
  Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Université Laval
• Charles-Emmanuel Côté
  Faculty of Law, Université Laval
• Patrick González
  Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences
  Member of CREATE: Centre de recherche en économie de l’environnement, de l’agroalimentaire, des transports et de l’énergie (Research Centre on the Economics of the Environment, Agrifood, Transportation, and Energy), Université Laval
• Paule Halley, Faculty of Law, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Law
• Frédéric Lasserre

• Department of Geography, Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics, Université Laval

• Kerem Öge
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science, McGill University
• Richard Ouellet
  Faculty of Law, Université Laval
• Zhan Su
  Department of Management, Stephen-A.-Jarislowsky Chair in International Business Management

Partners

The following partners have supported FORAGE projects:

• MacCarthy-Tetrault
• Organisation internationale de la francophonie
• Parcs éoliens de la Seigneurie de Beaupré
• Transcanada
• Valero