Collaborative Principles to Resolve Policy Issues Key Ingredients and Considerations

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Collaborative Principles to Resolve Policy
Issues Key Ingredients and Considerations

• Jonathan Brock
• William D. Ruckelshaus Center
• Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs
• University of Washington

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Why Collaborative Principles?

• Allows influence on a situation you cant control
  
• Formal route wont achieve exploration,
  resolution
• Combination of perspectives can generate
  solutions that you wouldnt think of on your own
• Parties take greater responsibility for the
  outcome
• More likely to obtain a sustainable outcome
• Develops relationships helpful in implementation
  and for future conflicts
• ADR process can be shaped to fit the specific
  issues, parties and context

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When to Mediate or Negotiate

• When issue is too important to stand consequences
  of decision you actually have the power to make!
• When a decision or position could put the
  situation out of your constructive influence
• When you dont have power to impose a solution
• When you have power, but consequence too risky
• When one or more key parties seem entrenched
• When your alternatives are worse than negotiation

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Lessons of Key NW Conflicts

• Beginning/structuring
• Importance of initial sponsorship, govt
  connection
• Trust in process, conveners
• Careful front-end and ongoing effective staff
  work
• Presence of principals for decision engagement
  of staff
• Important features
• Agreed upon use of data for decisions, later
  actions
• Open to local knowledge flexible for special
  conditions
• Lesser financed groups can participate
• Provisions for implementation
• Continuity from negotiation to implementation
• Accepted channels for implementation new
  structures for priority setting, coordination,
  focus, sponsorship
• Key success, progress often follows major tension

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Locally Based Decision Forums

• Place-based groups with representation
  appropriate to resolving likely issues
• NW Straits
• Nisqually River Council
• Issues solutions from local joint committee
• Connected to local, state, sometimes federal
  authorities via sponsorship needed for issues
• Often causes compliance, problem solving, data
  collection not possible through traditional
  regulatory and administrative procedure
• Often government provides staff support role!

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Collaborative Principles Apply to Regulatory
Advocacy Work

• Gives enforcement policy staff expanded tools
  for addressing compliance issues
• Resolving disputes among or within groups
• Developing policies that recognize power
• Voluntary compliance often more sustainable
• Can resolve issues on the ground
• Can produce more realistic, accepted policy

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What are the key ingredients?

• Finding the source of the conflict
• Who are the parties?
• What are their interests?
• Whats their power to influence outcome?
• Whats their BATNA?
• Knowing that the most important factors are often
  away from the table

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Assessing the source

• What has to be resolved to end the conflict?
• What, if resolved or removed, would end conflict
  and obviate need for conflict process?
• Often, critical questions are not evident
• Formal conflict may be over an EIS or quota, but
  the real source of the conflict may be fear of
  losing some important right or access or losing
  an irreplaceable or meaningful resource
• Finding the real source of the conflict is
  essential so that the right issues get attention,
  and needed parties are present and engaged.

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Who are the parties?

• Source of conflict determines who to engage
• Three kinds of parties
• Direct--must be at the table
• Indirect--consulted, may have to approve, comment
  
• Interested--need to be informed
• Anyone necessary for implementation or who can
  undo an agreement must be involved at a level
  that will allow them to accept the outcome
• Otherwise, they may work against resolution, or
  important input may be lacking

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What are the interests of each party?

• Interests are different than positions
• Position is an end point hard to negotiate over
• Positions lack context interfere w/solutions
• Interests are concerns or needs that must be
  addressed to resolve conflict. Once identified,
  can be explored, in open, creative ways.
• Interest-based negotiation is among the most
  successful for policy and environmental disputes,
  and also in labor and commercial.
• Positions may be incompatible non-competing
  interests can form agreement.

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What is the power of each party to influence the
outcome?

• Thus, to know how to arrange a negotiation,
  assess the relative power of key parties
• to each other
• to this conflict (power is conflict-specific)
• Examples of power
• Legal standing
• Access to media, direct action
• Personal stature, knowledge, respect
• Personal contacts among parties, outside
• Real power is exercised away from table

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What is the power of each party to influence the
outcome?

• Mediation forum must equalize the power of the
  parties within the forum
• Can pool power for joint gains
• Consensus rule equalizes power Not votes
• If not satisfied w/participation parties may use
  power away from table
• Ground rules to cover use of external power

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What is their BATNA?

• Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement
• Not, whats my final position, but what could
  I actually achieve on my own?
• As long as the process offers more than the
  BATNA, parties will normally stay engaged

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Features of Successful Collaborative Processes
Cormicks Principles Strengths / Risks
Purpose-driven A reason to be there, clear goal
Inclusive Constituents with significant interest involved
Voluntary Constituents willing to come to the table
Self-Design No preconceived ideas / solutions
Flexibility Able to adapt process to meet needs
Equal opportunity All involved parties have equivalent access
Respect for Diverse Interests Lots of listening
Accountability Representatives are accountable
Time Limits Deadlines, assessment points
Implementation Must have reasonable guarantees, recourse re implementation
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Building an Agreement

• Choosing an acceptable convener
• Convening the parties
• Determining representation
• Ensuring true representation
• Developing ground rules
• To equalize the power
• To create certainty
• Set deadlines
• Preserve rights
• Creates the first agreement among the parties

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Building an Agreement 2

• Create safe forum
• Start with areas of agreement
• Constructively explore interests
• Role of the convener
• Jointly selected
• Works ahead of meetings
• Gets to know the parties
• Gets to know the issues
• Build trust with and among parties
• Set plan and agendas get agreement on agenda
• Prepare parties for each meeting

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Building an Agreement 3

• Exploring issues jointly, e.g.
• Joint data collection
• Joint exploration
• Jointly specify assumptions of any studies
• Use joint committees
• Use only agreed upon experts
• Neutral staff crucial to large, ongoing issue

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Some Dynamics

• Deadlines matter, create movement
• Best offers often in worst language, so
• Listen for the whole presentation
• Respond to the offer, not the insult
• Help representatives be effective
• Progress begets trust, begets progress
• Settlement aided by making problem bigger
• Settlement requires giving, not hoarding, info
• others must know what you want (interests)
• you must know what they want (interests)
• But be cautious how you reveal your interests
• Agreement wont resolve underlying differences

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Getting Closure

• Hardest conflicts often within groups, not among
• May require different public than private
  positions
• Strike when hot No buyers remorse, sellers
  regret
• Capture agreement in writing
• Dont let anyone get theirs first. Even the
  agreement must recognize the mistrust

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Drawbacks, Cautions, Oppys

• Not always cheaper
• Not always faster
• Can be especially difficult for some groups to
  keep people and resources tied up
• May cause criticism from own constituency
• Often estranges members from their groups
• Ongoing forums like NW Straits, NRC overcome
  many, not all of the drawbacks
• Systems or ongoing forums are insufficiently
  utilized

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A Few More Observations

• Collaborative approach not always best
• Note importance of power in creating oppy
• Recognize limits of legal compulsion power of
  voluntary action
• Oppy for enforcement via voluntary, peer action
• More can be done when people are not forced, and
  when the response respects their circumstances
• Needs to go from informal to structured
• Scale and breadth must reflect scale of issues,
  influence and authority
• Note informal spin-offs that help future problems
  
• Trust is a result, not an ingredient

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Why choose collaborative principles for
problem-solving?

• When faced with a choice between two evils
• Try the one you havent tried