Making Collaboration Work : Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resource Management

Across the United States, diverse groups are turning away from confrontation and toward collaboration in an attempt to tackle some of our nation's most intractable environmental problems. Government agencies, community groups, businesses, and private individuals have begun working together to solve common problems, resolve conflicts, and develop forward-thinking strategies for moving in a more sustainable direction.

Making Collaboration Work examines those promising efforts. With a decade of research behind them, the authors offer an invaluable set of lessons on the role of collaboration in natural resource management and how to make it work. The book:

• explains why collaboration is an essential component of resource management
• describes barriers that must be understood and overcome
• presents eight themes that characterize successful efforts
• details the specific ways that groups can use those themes to achieve success
• provides advice on how to ensure accountability

Drawing on lessons from nearly two hundred cases from around the country, the authors describe the experience in practical terms and offer specific advice for agencies and individuals interested in pursuing a collaborative approach. The images of success offered can provide ideas to those mired in traditional management styles and empower those seeking new approaches. While many of the examples involve natural resource professionals, the lessons hold true in a variety of public policy settings including public health, social services, and environmental protection, among others.

Making Collaboration Work will be an invaluable source of ideas and inspiration for policy makers, managers and staff of government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and community groups searching for more productive modes of interaction.

Julia M. Wondolleck is Associate Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Michigan. She is an expert in the theories and application of dispute resolution and collaborative planning processes, and is the author or coauthor of three books: Public Lands Conflict and Resolution: Managing National Forest Disputes (Plenum 1988), Environmental Disputes: Community Involvement in Conflict Resolution (Island Press 1990), and Making Collaboration Work: Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resource Management (Island Press 2000). Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she spent her youth sailing on the Bay and hiking in the Sierra. As a result, her research interests span both terrestrial and marine realms, most recently examining collaborative science in the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System, contributions of Sanctuary Advisory Councils in the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program, and community engagement strategies for the NOAA Marine Protected Areas Center. Dr. Wondolleck has an undergraduate degree in economics and environmental studies from the University of California–Davis and a master's degree and PhD in environmental policy and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Steven L. Yaffee is Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Michigan. He has worked for more than forty years on federal endangered species, public lands and ecosystem management policy and is the author or co-author of five books: Prohibitive Policy: Implementing the Federal Endangered Species Act (MIT Press 1982); The Wisdom of the Spotted Owl: Policy Lessons for a New Century (Island Press 1994); Ecosystem Management in the United States: An Assessment of Current Experience (Island Press 1996); and Making Collaboration Work: Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resources Management (Island Press 2000). A native of Washington, DC, he spent his youth hearing stories about public policy and politics while experiencing firsthand the loss of native habitat associated with urban sprawl; ultimately, that led to an interest in improving the process of decision making so that more environmentally sound decisions can be made. He has facilitated numerous collaborative processes across North America, and assisted a set of philanthropic foundations with ways to develop evaluation metrics for their conservation programs. He is currently working on a new book detailing the history and lessons of the California marine protected areas designation process. Dr. Yaffee received his PhD in environmental policy and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His undergraduate and master’s degrees are in natural resource management and policy from the University of Michigan. He has been a faculty member at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the World Wildlife Fund.