NEW CBI Report - Collaborative Approaches to Environmental Decision-Making: A State Agency’s Guide to Effective Dialogue and Stakeholder Engagement

The Consensus Building Institute, in collaboration with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, is pleased to announce the publication of Collaborative Approaches to Environmental Decision-Making: A State Agency’s Guide to Effective Dialogue and Stakeholder Engagement, Written by CBI Fellow, Sara Cohen, the guide is intended for state environmental and natural resource agencies that wish to use more collaborative approaches to engagement to achieve more effective conversations, make better decisions, and enjoy broader support for those decisions.

Environmental agencies often need to take action under circumstances in which one or more of the following factors make the case particularly challenging:

•   Technical complexity 
•   Scientific uncertainty 
•   Multiple stakeholders 
•   Multiple jurisdictions 
•   Interrelated administrative processes 
•   Several levels of government 
•   Public stakeholders that are increasingly informed and involved 
•   Environmental justice issues, disproportionate burdens, and power dynamics that impact who has a voice in decision-making 

Any of these factors can confound regulatory decisions, policy development, and agency responses to new conditions (such as directives from new leadership; changes in environmental conditions; updates in technology; new scientific studies). Failing to engage stakeholders under these circumstances can quickly raise questions about practicality, effectiveness, and legitimacy. However, even when agencies do engage with outside entities in these decisions, their actions often still raise these questions. 

“This report showcases the collaborative innovations agencies across New England have undertaken.  While the issues vary, as do the unique culture of each New England state, collaboration in environmental decision making is alive and well across the region," states Pat Field, CBI Managing Director and Associate Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program.

This guide presents twelve case studies that illustrate goals that environmental agencies in New England have been able to achieve through facilitated, collaborative processes. Understanding some of the dynamics and decisions that contributed to these successes should help those undertaking collaborative processes to move past some of the above common pitfalls.