The interaction between an industry revitalised through Industrial Symbiosis and its local workforce

Abstract

This thesis researches the interaction between the revitalisation of an industry through industrial symbiosis and its local workforce, via a case study on the sugar industry in Norte Fluminense, Brazil. Agent-based modelling is used to gain insights in the case study with regards to the workers’ perception of their own status, power, their skills, (un)employment and the company’s ability to hire those workers. The case is contextualised by the proposal of Santos and Magrini (2018) to sustainably develop the Norte Fluminense region through the implementation of an agro-industrial symbiosis network. It is analysed that an industry revitalised through industrial symbiosis could positively influence its local workforce in terms of job quality and occupational skills. However, this depends on the kind of industry involved, the incentives for the industrial symbiosis network for including the local workforce, and the context and history of that industry. The prerequisite for these positive effects is the provision of additional education needed for the workforce to be included in the revitalisation of the industry. When the appropriate education is organised, the workforce could positively influence the revitalisation of an industry by providing the local support that is needed for industrial symbiosis exchanges to take place. These exchanges are build on the mutual trust of the key personnel of the industrial symbiosis network. The emergence of an industrial symbiosis network from an existing industry should happen gradually; the education for the potential workforce and the creation of jobs should be aligned to avoid unnecessary mismatching between skills required and skills available.