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Program Overview

PDF version: Program Overview, 94kb, 7 pages
January 2007

The National Roster of Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals ("Roster of ECR Practitioners") is managed by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, an independent, impartial federal program established by Congress to assist parties in resolving environmental, natural resource and public lands disputes. The roster was developed, with the support of the Environmental Protection Agency, after three years of gathering input from users, private dispute resolution practitioners, and others. The roster first became operational in February 2000 and the searchable database became directly accessible to the public in October 2004.

Purpose of the Roster and the Referral/Advice System

This system is designed to provide:

• an efficient, credible and user-friendly source from which to systematically identify experienced environmental mediators, facilitators, consensus builders, process designers, conflict assessors, system designers, neutral evaluators/fact finders, superfund allocators, regulatory negotiation neutrals.
• detailed Practitioner Profiles, as a helpful first step in the process of selecting an appropriate neutral.
• information and advice about selecting an appropriate neutral and using collaborative processes.
• a useful tool for locating appropriate practitioners and a central place from which ...
  • anyone involved in environmental disputes or situations can locate practitioners who have experience with environmental issues.
  • the U.S. Institute can locate practitioners who have experience with environmental issues, particularly to implement the enabling legislation which directs the U.S. Institute to use service providers in the geographic area of the dispute to the maximum extent possible.
  • the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Conflict Prevention and Dispute Resolution Center, EPA Regional ADR Specialists, the Department of Interior's Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution, the DOI Dispute Resolution Council, and the Federal Highway Administration can locate practitioners who have experience with environmental issues.

Roster search and referral services are available to

• Anyone interested in locating ECR practitioners! The roster search became directly accessible to the public in October 2004. Now anyone interested in locating ECR practitioners can contact the roster manager for a referral or search the roster directly.
• Federal agencies, Tribes, state and local government, environmental/conservation NGOs, industry, academics, general public, and others
• U.S. Institute as a primary source for identifying practitioners when making referrals and when locating neutrals for subcontracting
• EPA Conflict Prevention and Dispute Resolution Center (CPRC), Regional EPA ADR personnel, and the administrators of the EPA prime contract
• DOI Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution (CADR) and DOI Dispute Resolution Council (IDRC: ADR personnel from various DOI bureaus)
• Roster Members

Each Practitioner on the Roster Has Experience that Matches these Entry Criteria

1. Has served as a lead neutral in a collaborative process (e.g., mediation, consensus building, conflict assessment) for at least 200 case hours in two to ten environmental cases, and
2. Has accumulated a total of 60 points across three categories: additional case experience and complex case experience; experience as a trainer or trainee; and substantive work/volunteer/educational experience in fields related to alternative dispute resolution/environmental conflict resolution, such as law, science, or public administration.

The Practitioner Profile Provided to Referral Requestors (and Available By Searching Directly) Includes:

• contact information, fee structure, and a narrative summary
• descriptions of up to five selected cases
• examples of training courses taken or provided
• a list of the types of issues in which the practitioner has case experience
• areas of the country/foreign countries in which the practitioner has worked
• special capacities (e.g., computer/web support, access to technical experts)
• professional and education experience
• language proficiency information

How the Referral, Advice, and Assistance Process Works

1. A stakeholder or other interested person contacts the Institute. The Roster Manager, Joan Calcagno, gathers information from this person and provides advice to ensure a successful selection process and to identify a specific combination of the search criteria collated to best meet the characteristics, criteria, and priorities most likely to identify appropriate practitioners. She also provides advice about the proper use of the Profile as a first step only and the process of working with other participants in selecting an appropriate neutral.
2. The Roster Manager selects from the available search criteria:
   • The practitioner's location
   • The type of services needed (mediation, facilitation, consensus building/policy dialogues, regulatory negotiations, superfund allocation, neutral evaluation/fact finding, conflict assessment/process design, dispute system design)
   • The type of case experience the practitioner has (from a list of 40 environmental issues)
   • The scale of the case/controversy (local/community; state/regional; national; international)
   • The geographic areas in which the practitioner has worked (from 13 geographic areas, including foreign countries)
   • Special expertise: as a trainer, with complex cases with more than 10 parties, language skills,other project needs (e.g., logistical support for complex cases, language translation or interpretation; information management/computer support)
   • Education and professional experience (from a list of 18 subject areas)
3. The search is run in different combinations and narrowed or expanded depending on the number of practitioners from the initial search results and the purpose of the search.
4. The Roster Manager reviews the Profiles of the practitioners who meet the selected search criteria, sometimes has follow-up contact with the requestor, and prints Practitioner Profiles for those that are a best match.
5. The requestor is sent an explanatory cover letter, the selected Profiles, and two information pieces (one explaining the search results and one providing guidance on the process of selecting a neutral). Contacts for other existing programs and networks of environmental practitioners are also provided, where available and helpful.

Online Search Information

Direct online searches total 554, February 2000 through December 2006
(includes 212 in 2006)

Purposes for the direct-online searches

• Almost half of the searchers providing feedback in the fiscal year 2006 survey sought practitioners to assist in solving problems or resolving disputes involving environmental, natural resources or public lands issues.
• About thirty percent of respondents were searching for other purposes (e.g., searching for practitioner to assist with resolving other issues, searching for partner for mentoring program, research, assessing expertise available in specific areas, familiarizing themselves with available practitioners).
• About twenty percent used the search to locate practitioners for teaming/partnering.