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People collaborate because it makes sense
to do so. Decisions about natural resources, in particular, are rarely made by just one person or organization. The approval-actual or tacit-of several different parties is usually required. So it simply makes sense to work together. But collaborating is easier said than done. A third-party neutral can help make collaboration both efficient and effective using these tools: issue analysis, coordinated work planning, decision system design and support, contact and meeting management and facilitation, workshop and retreat design and management, issue illumination and fact finding, organization of scientific panels and white papers, and document drafting and management. |
Read more about collaboration in this artical:
 Implications of Collaboration (Word Doc)
Collaboration in our National Forests
The USDA Forest Service, in partnership with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, asked Martha Bean to work with Headquarters and foresters throughout the country to design and implement a pilot program on collaboration. This program created expert resource teams available to people in the Regions and Forests who need a quick and expert conflict assessment, or assistance designing a partnership program with stakeholders, or aid in determining how best to integrate science into collaborative problem solving process. A pilot program, informed by this work, is underway. To learn more about this project, visit the website National Forests Partnerships website.
Review an Assessment of Collaborative Opportunities on a National Forest Assessment Report (PDF 292KB)
A collaborative workshop on what's important in the forest.
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Skagit Valley: Farms, Fish - or Both?
Several Tribal Nations and their farming neighbors saw the benefits of working together constructively on salmon recovery. However, a history of lawsuits coupled with real and perceived offenses were formidable obstacles to direct conversations. The goals of the fishers and farmers were similar: retain our heritage; keep the Skagit Valley alive with fish and farms; fend off ex-urban development. Martha conducted an assessment on behalf of the parties, illustrating for them the circumstances required to begin the dialog that would eventually lead to on-the-ground work. She assisted the parties to determine how to integrate emerging scientific knowledge about salmon lifecycles with the practice of economically viable agriculture. Through this effort, the parties accumulated a reservoir of trust and experience such that they could continue working together productively through the non-profit organization Shared Salmon Strategy for Puget Sound.
Read more about accomplishments in the Skagit Valley:
Skagit Summary Report (Word Doc)
Merging Two Into One
The City of Seattle has long been known for environmental innovation both in the community and within city government. Two departments-one with responsibility for monitoring and encouraging environmental stewardship within City Hall itself, and the other with responsibility for encouraging ecological awareness among business and residents-were to be merging under a new, dynamic leader. The missions of these two groups had to be synchronized, as well as the cultures. The group needed to become a well-working team with a new leader at the helm. A series of retreat days yielded a clear and direct action plan for achieving the new, combined mission of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment. Martha Bean helped the department become the effective group they are today.
View the workshop worksheets used in the collaborative merge
Worksheets (Word Docs)
A Lake, an Estuary, or a Freshwater Marsh?
Capitol Lake, at the mouth of the Deschutes River in Olympia, Washington, was envisioned as a "reflecting jewel" to complement the grand architecture of the Washington State Capitol. The designers of the urban campus, however, did not imagine when they dammed the river several decades ago that sediment would rapidly fill this "reflecting jewel." Nor did they anticipate that the Puget Sound Spring Chinook Salmon would become a threatened species, or that the Tribal Nations would begin once again to assert the rights and powers promised them under historic treaties. But this is the reality today. A group of diverse parties, all with a vital interest in (and several with regulatory authority over) the future of Capitol Lake, met to determine a future course of action for the dying lake. Martha Bean helped the Committee articulate their ideas and concerns regarding each alternative, and choose a single path.
Read more about the final plan for the lake in the following
artical from the Olympian:
Olympian August, 17 2001 (Word Doc)
Unifying ESA Recovery Efforts for Puget Sound Spring Chinook
The listing of Puget Sound Spring Chinook as threatened under the Endangered Species Act brought with it an entirely new situation. Salmon spend each part of their lives in several different ecosystems, and many of those ecosystems in the Puget Sound area are urbanized or highly altered. In the Green Duwamish Watershed (Watershed Resources Inventory Area #9), cities, towns, special districts, environmental groups, businesses, and King County are working together to create a unified response focused on the recovery of Puget Sound Spring Chinook. Read about what has been accomplished to date |
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