569
There are other ways to do this as well. In Japan, for example, some processes will
designate a few people to represent the future to ensure future generational needs
are also addressed.
20.3.4 Collaborative Governance, Facilitation,
and Stakeholder Engagement
On the legislative or quasi-legislative side where laws and regulations are being written, communities have started to various models of collaborative governance to
bring people together. There are a variety of mechanisms, including “deliberative
democracy, e-democracy, public conversations, participatory budgeting, citizen juries,
study circles, collaborative policymaking, and other forms of deliberation and dialogue among groups of stakeholders or citizens” (Blomgren-Bingham et al. 2005;
Blomgren-Bingham 2009). All of these mechanisms seek to bring ordinary citizens
into the legislative or rulemaking process, often by empaneling or inviting people in
who might not normally be involved with crafting regulations. For example, a collaborative policy making process may bring multiple stakeholders or people who
may be affected by the outcome of a process together to help inform this process. This
can be done through more formal mechanisms such as formal facilitated or mediated
process (see below) or can be done more informally. Participatory budgeting brings
everyday people into the process of building budgets. Voters approved using this for
New York City’s budgeting process in the 2018 election, for example. There are additional resources for collaborative governance listed at the end of this chapter.
One key way to bring people together is through a facilitated process. Facilitation
is the use of a neutral third party to help a group of people talk with each other and
hopefully achieve a mutual understanding of interests and values. The use of thirdparty facilitators can be used in the settings described above to help identify potential stakeholders, convene a discussion, set ground rules to help participants engage
with each other, and address potential disagreements or difficulties as they arise.
A facilitated discussion does not necessarily involve conflict but occurs when a
person or group decides that it would be useful to have assistance in having more
productive conversations.
How these tools fit together is illustrated in three case studies below: one case
study on flood impacts in Washington State’s Chehalis River Basin; one on posthurricane recovery in Louisiana, and one on managing drought in Australia’s
Murray-Darling River Basin.
20.3.4.1 Example #1: The Chehalis River Basin of Washington State
The Chehalis River Basin offers examples both of collaborative governance and the
use of facilitation. The Chehalis River Basin is the second largest watershed in
Washington State. In recent decades, the Basin has had several significant floods,
20 Managing Human Conflicts
There are other ways to do this as well. In Japan, for example, some processes will
designate a few people to represent the future to ensure future generational needs
are also addressed.
20.3.4 Collaborative Governance, Facilitation,
and Stakeholder Engagement
On the legislative or quasi-legislative side where laws and regulations are being written, communities have started to various models of collaborative governance to
bring people together. There are a variety of mechanisms, including “deliberative
democracy, e-democracy, public conversations, participatory budgeting, citizen juries,
study circles, collaborative policymaking, and other forms of deliberation and dialogue among groups of stakeholders or citizens” (Blomgren-Bingham et al. 2005;
Blomgren-Bingham 2009). All of these mechanisms seek to bring ordinary citizens
into the legislative or rulemaking process, often by empaneling or inviting people in
who might not normally be involved with crafting regulations. For example, a collaborative policy making process may bring multiple stakeholders or people who
may be affected by the outcome of a process together to help inform this process. This
can be done through more formal mechanisms such as formal facilitated or mediated
process (see below) or can be done more informally. Participatory budgeting brings
everyday people into the process of building budgets. Voters approved using this for
New York City’s budgeting process in the 2018 election, for example. There are additional resources for collaborative governance listed at the end of this chapter.
One key way to bring people together is through a facilitated process. Facilitation
is the use of a neutral third party to help a group of people talk with each other and
hopefully achieve a mutual understanding of interests and values. The use of thirdparty facilitators can be used in the settings described above to help identify potential stakeholders, convene a discussion, set ground rules to help participants engage
with each other, and address potential disagreements or difficulties as they arise.
A facilitated discussion does not necessarily involve conflict but occurs when a
person or group decides that it would be useful to have assistance in having more
productive conversations.
How these tools fit together is illustrated in three case studies below: one case
study on flood impacts in Washington State’s Chehalis River Basin; one on posthurricane recovery in Louisiana, and one on managing drought in Australia’s
Murray-Darling River Basin.
20.3.4.1 Example #1: The Chehalis River Basin of Washington State
The Chehalis River Basin offers examples both of collaborative governance and the
use of facilitation. The Chehalis River Basin is the second largest watershed in
Washington State. In recent decades, the Basin has had several significant floods,
20 Managing Human Conflicts