Consensus Building Institute latest News and Views

CBI Assists in Stakeholder Assessment of Connecticut River Watershed

Meredith Sciarrio — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:58:38 +0000

In summer 2009, CBI completed an assessment for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to help them prepare to model the flows of the Connecticut River. In comi

CBI Facilitates Air Force Cleanup of Massachusetts Military Reservation

Andrew Maxfield — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:10:44 +0000

The Air Force cleanup of Massachusetts Military Reservation completed its final Record of Decision this fall, finalizing the cleanup of overall fifteen groundwater plumes and some seventy source areas. CBI has been facilitating various technical, managerial, and public engagement efforts since 1996. With strong collaboration among regulators, the military, and community leaders and advocates, the cleanup now successfully moves into operations and maintenance of the many groundwater treatment systems. Read more in a CBI case study.

Improving Negotiations in the Dominican Republic

Andrew Maxfield — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:49:42 +0000

CBI's Hal Movius recently partnered with Cambridge International Consulting to teach negotiation best practices in a series of workshops in the Dominican Republic. In addition to teaching workshops, Dr. Movius also participated in several television interviews and was featured in Listin Diario, a major newspaper. See the article here.

CBI Helps CFOs and Other Senior Executives Support Effective Negotiations

Andrew Maxfield — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:28:13 +0000

CBI's Hal Movius led a half-day workshop at the 4th Annual CFO Rising West Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas. The workshop was attended by 35 CFOs and other financial executives from a range of industries.

Based on the new book Built to Win: Creating A World Class Negotiating Organization, the interactive workshop highlighted ways that senior executives can support effective preparation and value creation in key negotiations. Feedback from participants was very positive.

Presentations of this nature stem from CBI's ongoing efforts to promote effective negotiation in organizations of every kind—public or private. If an organization does not have in place a clear and credible process model, as well as the tools, measures, coaching, and mechanisms for continuous learning, individual negotiators are unlikely to succeed. See examples of how CBI helps build "world-class negotiating organizations" >>

CBI Assists Major Electricity Transmission Organization to Improve Stakeholder Process

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:18:14 +0000

PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization (RTO) that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia—the largest RTO in the United States. In June of 2009, PJM asked CBI and Raab Associates, a long-time CBI partner, to conduct an assessment of its members process and overall governance structure.

PJM Interconnection's members process includes some 500 members, some 300 meetings per year, all to help provide advice and reach decisions on matters related to reliability and electricity market rules. CBI and Raab Associates worked closely with the Governance Assessment Team (GAST) to develop a detailed interview protocol and conduct interviews with over seventy-five individuals from PJM Board members to representatives of the five industry sectors. From this extensive data collection, CBI and Raab Associates developed a 55-question survey that was responded to by over 100 members.

After a presentation of findings and recommendations to the full Members Committee, PJM decided to move forward with a facilitated process to improve and optimize their stakeholder process.

Learn more about CBI's Assessment services
Read CBI case studies

Resolving Land Use Disputes

Ona Ferguson — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:42:32 +0000

In this episode, CBI describes a course called "Resolving Land Use Disputes". The course, which explores new and efficient methods of addressing land use disputes, is offered by the Consensus Building Institute and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Upcoming Course: Adaptation Planning as Risk Management

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0000

How should federal, state and municipal agencies and departments plan ahead for the risks associated with climate change and sea level rise? What should they be doing to minimize impacts to citizens, habitats and infrastructure?

Climate change will cause and is likely already causing impacts on a range of key areas. Sea level rise increases risk decision-makers must manage in many areas, including: increased flooding and inundation, increased risks of water-born diseases, storm intensification, displacement, shoreline erosion, and loss of critical habitat. By understanding for these increased risks and the process options available to them, managers will be able to make informed, politically feasible decisions that will reduce climate change risks and be good to address other concerns as well.

This two-day symposium is designed to provide decision-makers with an overview of risk management associated with climate change, the opportunity to discuss the political and process challenges associated with adaptation, and strategies for managing the right planning process to get to agreement.

Thursday October 29 and Friday October 30, 2009
Lincoln House, Cambridge, MA
Staff: Larry Susskind, Patrick Field, Ona Ferguson, Melissa Stults, Marina Alberti, and Paul Kirshen

Registration required. Please email lincolninstitute@resource-plus.com or call (888) 845-8759 for more information.

‘Action!’ in August

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:50:31 +0000

In August 2009, CBI’s Hal Movius will be producing two new professional quality High-Def negotiation training DVDs for a Fortune 100 Company. The first portrays Hard, Soft and Mutual Gains negotiating behaviors in a series of eight vignettes. One set of (four) vignettes focuses on up front contract negotiations for a service contract. The second set looks at a dispute that arises toward the end of the agreement. For each set of vignettes, viewers see different combinations of Hard/Soft/Mutual Gains interactions and techniques, with the goal of identifying the key behaviors that Mutual Gains negotiators need to learn and deploy to manage Hard and Soft negotiators.

The second video is a 20-minute “feature” that follows the story of a negotiation between a large manufacturer and one of its distribution partners. The film follows a protagonist from preparation (inside her company) to a series of meetings with her counterpart. Between these meetings are more internal meetings at which she gets coaching and advice from her boss and a colleague.

Both films use professional actors, and a full film crew. “We’re very excited by the opportunity to create realistic, fast-moving, high quality video materials,” says Movius. “In keeping with our training philosophy, the materials are tailored to meet specific pedagogical needs and to provide real-world examples of negotiation in a specific context.”

The two films expand CBI’s library of video materials, including two High-Def videos (one on coaching negotiators) produced by Movius in 2007.

Exploring the Nexus of Consensus Building and Leadership Skills

Andrew Maxfield — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:30:58 +0000

In May and June 2009, CBI Washington Office Director Merrick Hoben spoke at regional events regarding the nexus between consensus building and leadership skills.

For Leadership Arlington, an organization committed to building community leadership in Northern VA, Merrick provided insights on how apply consensus building skills at the level of resolving neighborhood conflict.

For the National Charette Institute, Merrick was asked to speak on how the consensus building framework can be effectively applied to the practice of charettes and building collaborative community plans.

Finally, for the Natural Resources Leadership Institute, he spoke about the role of government leadership in managing and transforming controversial natural resource and environmental issues.

For more information about these talks, Merrick can be reached at mhoben@cbuilding.org. If you are looking for a talk, presentation, or keynote address, please meet our staff or contact us.

Register Now for New Course on Managing Renewable Energy Siting Conflicts

Andrew Maxfield — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:23:00 +0000

Blowing in the Wind: Managing Renewable Energy Siting Conflicts
October 6, 2009 | 9:30AM – 4:30 PM | Doyle Conservation Center, Leominster, MA | $35 TTOR members, $40 non-members; BYO lunch

As landowners, agencies, and private companies look ever closer at the possibility of generating renewable energy close to home, many new questions arise—where should the infrastructure go and where should it not go? Who decides and how? What are the ecological impacts in the short- and long term? Who stands to benefit financially? Who loses?
This seminar is designed for staff and volunteers from planning boards, conservation commissions, open space committees, land trusts, elected officials others who care about conservation and sustainability in their communities. Focusing on Massachusetts laws, geography, and politics, this seminar will provide participants with strategies for addressing the conflicts that arise as communities wrestle with the dual objectives of land conservation and new investments in renewable energy. Space is limited; pre-registration required. To register, call 978-840-4446 x1935 or email Miriam Meyer-Scagnetti. For more information, contact CBI Senior Associate Ona Ferguson.

Co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations' Putnam Conservation Institute (PCI), the Consensus Building Institute, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, The Trustees of Reservations' Highland Communities Initiative (HCI), Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), and Massachusetts Citizen Planner Training Collaborative.

Applying Consensus Building Tools and Skills to Cultural Heritage Management

Stacie Smith — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:11:00 +0000

In this episode, Stacie Nicole Smith and Andrew Maxfield discuss CBI’s work with the Getty Conservation Institute and other organizations that deal with cultural and historical heritage sites and issues.

CBI receives 2008 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award on behalf of the Greater Boston Breathes Better (GB3) Partnership

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:38:54 +0000

CBI was awarded a 2008 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award on behalf of the Greater Boston Breathes Better (GB3) partnership. GB3 was selected from 125 applicants and was recognized for achievements in community action. The awards program, established in 2000 at the recommendation of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, annually recognizes and honors outstanding innovative efforts to help make progress in achieving cleaner air. Award-winning entries must directly or indirectly reduce pollutant emissions, demonstrate innovation, offer sustainable outcomes, and provide a model for others to follow. Read the EPA Region 1 Announcement.

CBI Helps Advance U.S. Wind Energy Planning

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:03:17 +0000

In July 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a report entitled “20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply.” The report results from a collaborative effort between government, industry, and nongovernmental sector stakeholders to explore the challenges and opportunities to achieving a modeled energy scenario in which wind provides 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030.

CBI was recently selected to receive competitive funding to address market and deployment challenges identified in the Report. Working with CBI founder Larry Susskind and partner Jonathan Raab, CBI will help built the capacity of states to advance wind energy through best practices of collaborative planning and siting. CBI will develop materials and convene workshops for state, industry, and nongovernmental organization partners on collaborative planning and siting for wind energy facilities. The training workshops will be hosted at MIT in Spring 2010.

For more information about CBI’s involvement, contact Kate Harvey.

Interactive Summit Builds Coast-Smart Communities in Maryland

Andrew Maxfield — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:53:06 +0000

In April 2009, more than 170 Maryland leaders—including mayors, county commissions, environmentalists, business leaders, and state officials—met in Annapolis for an interactive summit about community-level responses to climate risks that threaten the state’s coast. Led by CBI, the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the summit centered around an innovative negotiation simulation that demonstrated the challenges and policy options coastal communities face.

CBI Supports Global Aquaculture Standard Setting Process

Merrick Hoben — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:01:22 +0000

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production system in the world, and the trend is projected to continue. Although the industry provides an important opportunity to supplement the oceans’ food supply, it can also cause significant social and environmental impacts if managed improperly.

Many NGOs and civil society groups have raised concerns about the potential for untenable harm to water quality resulting from aquaculture, as well as the spreading of disease, and the promotion of unfair labor practices.

In 2008, WWF asked CBI to help coordinate a global consensus-based standard setting process that will result in scientific and credible social and environmental performance measures at the farm-site level.

CBI is now working with WWF’s coordinators to improve the quality of decision-making among stakeholders worldwide—including scientists, producers, civil society groups, and NGOs. By providing planning and facilitation services for numerous stakeholder meetings around the globe, CBI has supported six global aquaculture dialogues related to shrimp, salmon, pangasius, tilapia, shellfish, and trout.