ALEXANDRIA, VA - February 5, 2013. USACE IWR’s Conflict Resolution & Public Participation Center of Expertise and Directory of Expertise (CPC) has released the 7th Annual Report on the Use of Environmental Conflict Resolution in USACE. The CPC compiled the report based on responses from each USACE Civil Works division and the Engineer Research and Development Center. The USACE report is submitted through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and the Department of Defense to the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget.
"The annual ECR report represents a great snapshot of the good work in Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution that is going on throughout the Corps,” said CPC Director Hal Cardwell. “It’s really exciting to see all the interesting and innovative examples of collaboration as the Corps executes its mission – there's so much to learn from each other. Going forward we're excited about getting more information on some of these examples to incorporate into our Case Study database on collaboration. We will be reworking this report and using it as a basis for an IWR CPC report on collaboration in USACE. We will also be asking some people to present their work through the USACE Collaboration and Public Participation Community of Practice’s webinar series. 2013 will be another busy year for the Corps as we implement collaborative and integrated water resource approaches."
In addition to a detailed description of a 3rd party ECR example for the Long Island Sound Dredged Materials Management Plan, the report highlighted seven notable advances in the use of environmental conflict resolution:
- Iowa & Cedar Rivers Basin Watershed Climate Change Pilot
- Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin Interbasin Study Stakeholder Assessment
- Interior Least Tern Workshop
- Navy Apra Harbor Coral Reef Workshop
- Tennessee Environmental Streamlining Agreement
- Tulsa District Water Rights
- Missouri River Flood Task Force
USACE Districts and Divisions indicated an interest in onsite training in public involvement & team building in planning, shared vision planning, collaborative leadership, facilitation, and risk communication. Respondents also expressed interest in the following types of assistance: public involvement/communication plan, vertical integration support, workshop design, consultation via phone, assistance with charettes, and monthly coaching/mentoring webinar. Divisions and Districts also nominated a number of people to participate in the new Environmental Conflict Resolution Certification Program with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. The CPC team will be assisting USACE to develop robust and quantitative performance and accountability measures USACE-wide to track the benefits and savings from the use of environmental conflict resolution.
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