Policy Consensus E-News — September 2005

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White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation
Focuses on Strengthening “Shared Governance”

Federal officials working for environmental, land-management, and wildlife agencies gathered in August with state, local, and tribal officials; nonprofit conservation organizations; and private landowners and businesses for the fourth-ever White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. The first such conference was convened by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 and set a 40-year course for conservation in the United States.

This year’s theme, “Strengthening shared governance and citizen stewardship,” sought to celebrate what Interior Secretary Gail Norton called a new chapter built on "communication, consultation, and cooperation, in the name of conservation."

The three-day conference was organized by the Council on Environmental Quality, and co-hosted by the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

A number of facilitators, including PCI Director Chris Carlson and NPCC Director Greg Wolf, led discussions around nine key topic areas such as expanding the roles of states, tribes, and local governments in cooperative conservation.

“The discussion groups were diverse in makeup, and each session produced a prioritized list of major themes and practical actions,” Carlson said. The action items were presented to federal officials at the conclusion of the conference. These items included suggestions for incentivizing collaboration, improving the connections between decision makers and people on the ground, and developing expectations and performance measures for federal agencies to measure success in collaboration.

The conference also featured 32 case studies of collaborative conservation efforts around the country. Cases included: 1) a joint initiative by federal, state and local governments, and the private and non-profit sectors to improve the Detroit River and surrounding areas; 2) The Central Texas Sustainability Partnership, in which ranchers are working with the military to restore habitat on private range land at Fort Hood; and 3) Blackfoot Challenge, a Montana watershed group of private landowners and public agencies collaborating to keep large landscapes and rural lifestyles intact.

In her opening remarks, Interior Secretary Norton described an initiative to develop cooperative conservation legislation to submit to Congress, though few details were offered about what the legislation would contain. Two days later, at the concluding plenary session – after Norton and other cabinet members had been summoned to Washington, D.C., to coordinate the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina – federal officials issued an invitation to conference participants to provide input on the proposed legislation.

PCI and NPCC will follow the details of this legislation, and announce any opportunities to submit comments and suggestions.

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PCI Releases Annual Updates from State Programs

Each year, PCI asks state dispute resolution and consensus building programs about their ongoing activities, their priorities, and their challenges. This year's “State Programs Updates” features highlights from more than 25 dispute resolution and consensus building programs across the country. The past years’ accomplishments include:

• Approval from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, the University of Arkansas System, and the state Department of Higher Education to formally launch a Center for Public Conflict Solutions at UALR.
• A legislative appropriation for Colorado’s Office of Dispute Resolution, for the first time in 15 years, to fund administrative/program development. The funding is not a separate line item in the budget, but is now part of the judicial branch budget.
• A statutory amendment transferring the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution from the Executive Office for Administration and Finance to the University of Massachusetts-Boston, where it is now free-standing institute under the Vice-Provost for Research.
• A $ 1.3 million Grant to the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management from the U.S. Department of Education for comprehensive conflict management training packages for more 12,000 middle school staff and students in Ohio.

Download the complete PDF version 2005 State DR Programs Update (411 KB PDF).

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PCI and NPCC Launching “Public Solutions System”

States can’t afford to be entrenched in bureaucratic, change-resistant structures. The challenge is for states and their institutions to become more flexible and responsive to the rapidly changing environment in which they operate.

For the past several years, PCI and NPCC have been developing an approach to collaborative governance for states that can be adapted and applied to complex policy issues in which multiple sectors have a stake in the outcomes, and no single entity can produce a solution on its own. The model is based on lessons from the past 30 years about what makes collaborative processes legitimate and effective.

This “Public Solutions System” is not intended to replace existing, traditional systems of state decision making. Rather, it serves as an option for state leaders to use on a more routine basis when difficult public issues – issues that cannot be resolved by government alone – need to be approached collaboratively.

A fundamental component of the Public Solutions System is the new role it offers leaders – that of convener. Unlike a policymaker, the role of convener involves bringing together all the key sectors – public, private and civic – to develop effective, lasting solutions to public problems that go beyond what any sector could achieve on its own. Rather than deciding for people, leaders in the convener role make decisions with people, giving all impacted stakeholders a key role in problem solving and strategy implementation.

There are a number of examples that illustrate how governors and legislatures are using this kind of systemic approach to address complex issues that don’t conform to political boundaries or existing government structures. They include:

• A strategy proposed by the Oregon governor, approved by the legislature, to fund watershed councils covering every watershed in the state. The statute defines a watershed council as a "voluntary local organization designated by a local government group convened by a county governing body...." This model has become the governance system for watershed restoration in the state. And watershed councils in many other states also are serving as examples of how collaborative governance is being used to address watershed issues.
• At least 16 states have developed Governors' Children's Cabinets, collaborative governance structures that seek to promote coordination across state agencies and improve the well-being of children and families. Though many features of these cabinets vary from state to state, the initiatives typically involve senior state officials, including cabinet executives from a range of state agencies (including health, mental health, education, child care, income supports, child and family services, youth development, labor, and juvenile justice services). Many Children's Cabinets also include representatives of key stakeholders from the private sector.

(PCI and NPCC are interested in other examples of policies that establish frameworks supporting collaborative, cross-sector efforts to address an issue or problems. Please contact us with examples from your state.)

The Public Solutions System involves a set of core principles that ensure democratic practices are followed; an “Operating System” that ensures best practices are employed; and a network of leaders as conveners, along with sponsors, practitioners, and neutral forums to carry out the collaborative processes.

Such a system will give leaders a way to ensure an effective framework for collaborative decision-making. It offers a guide for how public agencies and the private and civic sectors can work together to employ collaboration more effectively, without having to invent it from scratch each time. And it can be adapted to different political contexts and public policy challenges. Rather than pre-empting other consensus building and conflict resolution work, it builds on and makes use of those efforts.

Information about the Public Solutions System will be available on our updated website, which will be launched in the coming month.

Assistance and Consultation

PCI and NPCC are available to assist states in establishing Public Solutions Systems. Contact us to learn more about our training, assessment, and system design assistance, or about ways to establish key connections with national public, private, and philanthropic partners that support state efforts.

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