Policy Consensus E-News — December 2005

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In this issue:

Unprecedented Regional Collaboration Leads to Great Lakes Strategy
NCSL – PCI Workshop for Legislators on “Beyond Bickering”
Public Solutions Presented at Council of State Governments 2005 Annual Forum
CSG State News features article on Convening

Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Produces Agreement on a Strategy

This December the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers approved and signed agreements at the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ Leadership Summit that will provide unprecedented protections for the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Basin. The agreements grew out of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and are part of the Strategy developed in that process.

The Strategy builds upon earlier, extensive regional efforts, including nine priorities for Great Lakes restoration and protection that the Great Lakes governors identified in 2003. These nine priorities were subsequently adopted by the Great Lakes mayors, the Great Lakes Commission and other Great Lakes leaders and now form the organizing principle for the newly announced Strategy.

NCSL – PCI Workshop for Legislators: "Beyond Bickering"

PCI and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) co-sponsored a workshop prompted by the growing difficulty of conducting the public’s business in a climate of cultural and political polarization. Held at the conclusion of NCSL’s Fall Forum in Chicago and called "Beyond Bickering: Addressing Tough Issues in the Legislature and Community," participants included bi-partisan legislative teams from Arkansas, Maine and Oklahoma.

Panel on Public Solutions at CSG Trends and Leadership Forum

PCI’s work on collaborative governance was presented by a panel at the recent Council of State Governments' 2005 Annual Trends and Leadership Forum in Wilmington, Delaware. The panel focused on how PCI’s work on collaboration relates to the findings in CSG’s report on Trends in America.

State News Features Article on Convening

The November/December issue of State News, the magazine of the Council of State Governments (CSG), features an article on The Power to Convene by PCI Executive Director Christine Carlson and NPCC Executive Director Greg Wolf. The article describes how state legislators can take the lead in decision making by convening public- and private-sector parties to tackle public issues. It explains what leaders need to do when they act as conveners and how the convener role differs from the legislator role.

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