Just released - ECR Report Highlights Training
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) have released the second annual
analysis of the federal departments' and agencies' Environmental Conflict Resolution (ECR) Reports. The report summarizes the ECR work
being done by the federal departments and agencies in response to the November 2005 Joint Memorandum on Environmental Conflict Resolution
issued by OMB and CEQ.
The report highlights the importance of training to federal departments' and agencies' efforts to build institutional capacity for ECR. The
U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution is recognized for its efforts to make ECR a more familiar and used tool for resolving
environmental conflicts.
In the report, U.S. Institute trainings highlighted include:
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Conflict management trainings provided on behalf of the Air Force Negotiation Center of Excellence (NCE) as part of its efforts to
develop negotiation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills as core competencies throughout the Air Force.
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Collaborative skills orientations to prepare stakeholders to participate in a National Park Service negotiated rulemaking to address
off-road vehicle use on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.
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Customized training in multiparty negotiations provided at the request of the Department of Defense as part of its sustainable military
readiness efforts, and at the request of the Department of Interior's Office of the Solicitor and its Office of Collaborative Action and
Dispute Resolution (CADR).
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The third annual Native Skills Exchange Workshop designed to bring together individuals who work in tribal governments and Native
communities, as well as members of the U.S. Institute's Native Dispute Resolution Network, to share skills and current practices for
effective engagement in collaborative dispute resolution processes.
The report also highlights that in early 2008, the U.S. Institute began offering standing open-enrollment courses at its offices in Tucson,
Arizona, and in Washington, DC. The open-enrollment courses currently offered or under development are: (1) collaboration competencies for
agency staff, (2) multiparty negotiation, (3) interest-based negotiation, (4) government-to-government consultation (with tribal governments),
(5) introduction to managing environmental conflicts, and (6) NEPA collaboration. The U.S. Institute plans to extend its reach by offering
open-enrollment courses at key regional hubs in 2009.
The training initiatives of several other agencies are also highlighted in the forthcoming report. For example, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission is noted for its delivery of introductory and advanced training on a wide variety of ADR-related topics. The National Conservation
Training Center of the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service is recognized for its efforts to build institutional capacity in
collaborative problem-solving by "combining traditional training focused on knowledge or ‘technical skills' with structured decision-making
workshops focused on experiential learning or ‘practice.'" The DOI CADR office is noted for providing conflict management training to over
500 senior executives, and partnering with the Institute to provide multi-party negotiations training to DOI staff.
The report is posted on the U.S. Institute's website at
http://ecr.gov/Resources/FederalECRPolicy/AnnualECRReport.aspx.
Additional information about U.S. Institute trainings may be found at
http://www.ecr.gov/Training/Training.aspx.