Strategies for State Programs: Focus on Policy Issues
Transportation initiatives provide an opportunity for FCRC to strengthen partnerships with DOT district offices, MPOs, Regional Planning Councils, and local governments, as well as with firms providing technical support for transportation agencies.
Lessons learned from these efforts over the past decade suggest that state dispute resolution and consensus building centers could apply this strategy to transportation or other issues by:
- Finding and building champions for consensus building among leaders and senior management of the state agency;
- Seizing the marketing opportunities that successful consensus building projects offer. Engage directly with public and private sector leaders, as well as potential stakeholders, to showcase the payoffs to statewide collaborative problem solving.
- Identifying the ways in which transportation is linked to many other critical policy issues, including economic development, growth management, and environmental protection. Each of these provides additional opportunities for service at both state and regional levels.
- Looking for partners from public agencies, university centers, and private transportation consulting firms who will work collaboratively with your program staff to design and implement consensus-based solutions to transportation problems.
- Budgeting sufficient time for continuous strategic assessments and project development, including joint appraisals with DOT and MPO leaders and staff of new opportunities for consensus building services.
FCRC's aim with transportation dispute resolution is to bridge critical gaps and enable communities, regions, and the state of Florida to improve project planning, development and implementation of transportation policy and projects. As with other FCRC initiatives, the transportation initiative includes training, consultation and referral, direct facilitation, and applied research.
For more detailed information on Florida 's approach, visit FCRC's Transportation Projects site, or contact FCRC Director Bob Jones.
To discuss how NPCC can help your state develop an issue-focused approach to specific policy problems, contact NPCC Director Greg Wolf or PCI Director Chris Carlson.