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28 Years of Results through Consensus
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August 2006 |
Volume 3, Number
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…to the summer issue of the
RESOLVE
Reporter. This issue features a collaborative effort on
the part of several corporations to improve markets for
environmentally preferable paper products. We trust that it
will stimulate our readers’ thinking about other innovative
ways that companies and their stakeholders could work
together for the common good. Our other story highlights how
rules can be revised to encourage greater flexibility – in
this case, enabling water utilities to communicate more
effectively with the public when lead in drinking water
exceeds safe levels. Taken together, these stories
illustrate the value of collaborative dialogue to inform
policy decisions and stimulate constructive action in both
the private and the public sectors.
-- Bruce Stedman,
Senior Mediator,
RESOLVE |
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Buyers collaborate
to improve the market for environmentally preferable paper
 An innovative
web-based tool to help make environmentally preferable paper
products (EPP) more widely available and affordable was
unveiled this spring at the Forest Leadership Forum in
Portland, Oregon. Scheduled for general release this fall,
the Environmental Paper Assessment Tool (EPATSM) is the
result of an innovative collaborative known as the Paper
Working Group (PWG). The PWG was initiated in 2003 by
Metafore, a not-for-profit enterprise that works with some
of the nation’s leading purchasers of paper products to help
them make environmentally and socially responsible choices.
According to Metafore President and CEO David Ford, who
recruited the environmental leadership companies to
participate in the PWG, the idea of “leadership companies
from many market sectors collaborating to achieve common
social and environmental goals is as unique as the [EPAT]
tool itself.” For companies as diverse as Bank of America,
Cenveo, Hewlett-Packard Company, FedEx Kinko’s Office and
Print Services, McDonald's Corporation, Nike, Inc., Norm
Thompson Outfitters, Staples, Inc., Starbucks Coffee
Company, Time Inc. and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., the
PWG is an opportunity to bring their ideas and purchasing
power together to influence the marketplace for EPP
products. With the United States using 100 million tons of
paper products a year, the potential influence is huge.
RESOLVE mediator Paul De Morgan helped PWG participants come
up with a common set of terms to use in achieving their
shared goal. The PWG developed an EPP definition comprising
several sets of inter-related desired outcomes, including
efficient use and conservation of raw materials,
minimization of waste, conservation of natural systems,
clean production, community and human well-being, economic
viability, and credible reporting and verification. The next
step was to devise an assessment tool (the EPAT) that would
allow companies to weight each desired outcome according to
their own values and objectives.
The EPAT grew out of the idea that consistent metrics would
benefit all players, facilitating documentation by suppliers
and comparison shopping by EPP buyers as well as the
transparency of purchasing decisions for all concerned.
Because the PWG includes corporate EPP purchasers only, Ford
notes that “one challenge was to identify specific points of
interaction where we could engage stakeholders across the
supply chain – from the timber companies to the
environmental NGOs – to help us think through the particular
pieces of information that needed to be in the database.”
The PWG created a number of opportunities (including
web-based review of documents and face-to-face meetings)
throughout development of the tool to obtain input.
Ford and PWG participants hope that “improving communication
across the whole supply chain will result in better
decision-making.”
For more information on the EPAT or the PWG, see
www.metafore.org/pwg
or contact project manager Tom Pollock at
tpollock@metafore.org
(503.224.2205).
RESOLVE contact:
Paul De Morgan,
Portland Office
Giving utilities
a choice of effective communication tools will improve
public education about lead in drinking water
 In 2005, the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – recognizing that
regulations intended to ensure public education about the
risk of lead in drinking water actually made it harder to
communicate critical information – created a Working Group
on Public Education (WGPE) to revisit the way water
utilities inform the public about lead in drinking water.
The WGPE, whose 16 members represent small, medium, and
large utilities as well as consumers, regulators, and public
health and communications experts, quickly reached consensus
on the direction revisions should take. After just four
meetings spanning less than six months, the WGPE reached
agreement on recommendations to the National Drinking Water
Advisory Council (NDWAC) on a more flexible “toolbox” of
approaches to educating the public about lead in drinking
water.
“The original rules did not reflect our current
understanding of how to communicate with the public,”
explains Steve Estes-Smargiassi, Director of Planning for
the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. “They required
utilities to use very technical, bureaucratic language
verbatim in their public education.” WGPE members agreed to
eliminate extraneous material, bring the reading level to
target audiences, and make it easier to use, says Estes-Smargiassi.
“We also sought to improve the overall effectiveness of the
public education rule by providing utilities with menu
options for different outreach approaches and a toolbox of
techniques from which to choose those most effective for
their target audience.”
“With more meaningful and understandable information on lead
in drinking water people will be better positioned to make
informed choices to protect their health,” says Gregg
Grunenfelder, Assistant Secretary for Washington State
Department of Health’s Division of Environmental Health.
“Many of the recommendations of the WGPE are geared towards
strengthening the partnership between water utilities and
local public health organizations which could benefit the
public in many aspects safe drinking water, which is so
critical to a healthy community.”
Estes-Smargiassi notes that, although WGPE members came to
their task “from different perspectives, everyone had a
sense of a common mission and were enthusiastic about coming
to agreement.” So enthusiastic, indeed, according to WGPE
and NDWAC member Blanca Surgeon, a rural development
specialist, that water utilities and other WGPE and NDWAC
members are urging EPA and primacy agencies to use
administrative flexibility to allow utilities the option of
using the new materials even before the effective date of
the regulation.
The MWRA is a case in point. Like many states that resorted
to informal mechanisms to supplement the required public
education material, Massachusetts had started mailing a
simple, effective 500-word brochure out to water customers –
until it was determined that the original regulations
prohibited this practice. “Now we should be able to go back
to using a simple, easy to read and understand brochure –
and not just informally,” says Estes-Smargiassi. “Being in
compliance and being effective – that’s a great place to
be!”
Contact: Abby Arnold,
RESOLVE
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Keep
an Eye On
- BSR Annual Conference to focus on Innovative
Strategies, Measurable Impacts
One of the most challenging aspects of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) is the demand for measurable
results. This year’s Business for Social Responsibility
(BSR) Annual Conference will respond to this challenge
with an agenda and speakers that address both the
internal and external work behind sustainable business
practices. Scheduled for November 7-10 in New York,
"Innovative Strategies - Measurable Impacts" is designed
to serve as both a construction site and an exhibition
hall for the work of building a more just and
sustainable global economy. Participants will:
- meet other business leaders in their fields and
gain insight about successfully incorporating CSR
into their top-level strategies to gain a
competitive advantage
- interact with NGO and public policy leaders from
more than 40 countries who are shaping the future of
business and society relations
- learn what these innovators have accomplished in
the last year, as well as the issues and efforts
that are affecting leading companies now and in the
future.
For information on other corporate social
responsibility conferences, meetings, and events, see
CSR-wire’s events listing at
http://www.csrwire.com/events.
- Graduate Certificate Program in Conflict Analysis
and Resolution
A program designed in collaboration with
RESOLVE to
strengthen participants’ ability to “constructively
engage differences in communities” is one of four
one-year graduate certificate programs in Conflict
Analysis and Resolution being offered by the Institute
for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) at George
Mason University. Other programs focus on: Conflict
Analysis and Resolution in Prevention, Reconstruction
and Stabilization Contexts; World Religions, Diplomacy
and Conflict Resolution; and Advanced Skills.
Specifically tailored to provide students with practical
knowledge of Conflict Analysis and Resolution relevant
to their focused areas of work, each of these one-year
15-credit programs is designed for mid-career
professionals studying in a cohort environment. For more
information, see:
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/icar/certificates.html,
or contact ICAR at George Mason University: (703)
993-9462.
- 2006 ACR Conference in Philadelphia
The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) will hold
its 2006 Annual Conference, “Celebrating Our Past,
Shaping the Future,” October 25–28, 2006 in
Philadelphia. The conference will host a variety of
workshops, lectures, panels and intimate roundtable
discussions on the issues of conflict resolution with
some of the most experienced professionals in the field.
Set up in collaboration with ACR’s overall mission, “to
enhance the practice and public understanding of
conflict resolution,” the conference is open to anyone
interested in educating, learning, and participating in
conflict resolution skills and techniques. For details
and online registration links, go to
http://www.acrnet.org.
- Conflict Resolution Day to take place in October
The third Thursday in October is Conflict Resolution
Day, begun in 2005 by ACR. This year World Mediation
Forum joins in co-sponsoring the global celebration,
which will take place on October 19, 2006. For more
information or to get involved, send an email to ACR
Program Manager Jennifer Druliner at
jdruliner@ACRnet.org.
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New and Notable
RESOLVE staff are currently assisting stakeholder dialogue
through the following new projects:
- Food Safety
RESOLVE is
assisting the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
to obtain stakeholder input on the design and
implementation of a more robust risk-based inspection
(RBI) system for meat and poultry processing plants.
RESOLVE will
solicit stakeholder input through interviews, a public
workshop, and electronically on the FSIS website. The
information gathered will be used to develop a report
that identifies areas of stakeholder agreement on
components of RBI; compares and contrasts competing
options about how to implement RBI; highlights areas of
concern among stakeholders regarding various options;
and presents recommendations for next steps in the
stakeholder input process.
Contacts: Kathy Grant,
Paul De Morgan
- Continental Dialogue on Non-native Forest Insects
and Diseases
The Nature Conservancy and its partners have
launched a collaborative effort, the Continental
Dialogue on Non-Native Forest Insects and Diseases.
RESOLVE staff
facilitated a three-day planning meeting for
approximately 50 people in June and will host a
web-based interactive planning process to follow up on
this meeting and prepare for the “kick-off”of the
dialogue, which is expected to take place in the next
six months.
Contact: Turner Odell
- Willamette Partnership
The Willamette Partnership, a coalition of business,
conservation, agriculture, and municipal services
leaders, is initiating a Willamette Ecosystem
Marketplace, an incentive-based tool to achieve needed
ecosystem improvements and meet regulatory requirements
faster and more cost-effectively than would be possible
using existing tools alone. The overall goal of the
program is to develop the technical, legal, and
regulatory frameworks needed to facilitate multi-credit
transactions for the purpose of improving the ecological
health of the Willamette River Basin. The Willamette
Partnership will be organizing with the primary contract
team of David Evans and Associates and CH2M Hill to
develop a scope of work for the technical services.
RESOLVE will be
“on call” for any facilitation services needed over the
course of the next 30 months (and beyond).
Contact: Debra
Nudelman
- Organizing People, Activating Leaders (OPAL)
OPAL, a non-profit organization based in Portland,
Oregon, recently requested
RESOLVE’s
services to assist with the design and facilitation of a
strategic planning effort. OPAL’s mission focuses on
educating and activating impacted community members and
volunteers around environmental injustice issues and
concerns.
RESOLVE will
interview Board members, facilitate a series of
retreats, and assist in the drafting of a detailed
action plan to support the finalization of a 5-year
strategic plan.
Contact: Jennifer Bies
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RESOLVE
Washington DC Office
1255 23rd Street , NW
Suite 275
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 944-2300
Portland Office
720 SW Washington Street
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Portland, OR 97205
(503) 228-8350
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Listening Sessions on Cooperative Conservation and
Environmental Partnerships
The Secretaries of Interior, Commerce and Agriculture,
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
and the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental
Quality have announced the dates and locations of the first
eight listening sessions on cooperative conservation and
environmental partnerships:
- Washington State University, Spokane, August
9, 2006, Phase 1 Room 122,
Auditorium
- Helena, Montana, 1 p.m., August 14, 2006, Public
Health and Human Services Building, Auditorium
- Roanoke, Virginia, 9 a.m., August 14, 2006, Roanoke
College, Colkep Center, Wortmaan Ballroom
- Columbus, Ohio, 4 p.m., August 21, 2006, Ohio State
University Agricultural Administration Building
Auditorium
- Redmond, Oregon, 9 a.m., August 22, 2006, Deschutes
County Fairgrounds Expo Center
- Jefferson City, Missouri, 9 a.m., August 29, 2006, Runge Conservation Nature Center
- Enid, Oklahoma, 1 p.m. August 30, 2006,Cherokee Strip
Conference Center, Piner Hall
- Redding, California, 9 a.m., September 13, 2006,
Shasta County Board of Supervisors Chamber
Listening sessions will give citizens an opportunity to
exchange ideas on incentives, partnership programs, and
regulations that can improve results and promote cooperative
conservation and environmental partnerships. The meetings
are the latest in a series of discussions the Administration
has hosted since the President's Conference on Cooperative
Conservation in August 2005. The conference identified three
broad approaches to improving
conservation results: promoting cooperation within the
federal government, promoting cooperation between the
federal government and others, and eliminating barriers to
cooperation in existing policy.
For more information, contact: Hugh Vickery, DOI (202)
501-4633. Interested parties may pre-register for a
particular session online at
http://cooperativeconservation.gov.
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