Agricultural production has historically been the cornerstone of the lifestyle, culture and economy of Crystal River valley and remains so today. However, growing population and changing demographics in the valley have heightened interest in recreational, environmental and aesthetic values of the Crystal River. In recent drought years, recorded extreme low flows in the lower Crystal River fueled concerns and controversy among residents, conservation groups, environmental advocates, resource agencies and the agricultural community about the health of the River. In response, the local watershed organization, Roaring Fork Conservancy provided essential local capacity and team building to develop and implement the Crystal River Management Plan (CRMP). CDR Associates, Lotic Hydrological, and the Public Counsel of the Rockies helped support their efforts.

The CRMP provided a collaborative community process to bring diverse stakeholders together to openly explore and discuss values, resource use priorities, and feasibility constraints around water management alternatives. The Plan was extensively vetted with stakeholders to ensure broad support and buy-in for the plan as a platform for implementation. The stakeholder process represented a significant investment of time, trust and cooperation by stakeholders throughout the project, and provides a foundation for working together as a community to implement the CRMP recommendations.

Stakeholder input generated in early group meetings, informal “coffee shop” encounters, and community informational meetings also guided the choice of alternative management practices that were analyzed: market based incentives for water conservation through bypassed flows; infrastructure improvements and efficiency upgrades; off-stream storage; habitat enhancement through channel modification. This input helped to illuminate management constraints beyond the ecological and physical processes such as agricultural operations, planting cycles, policies, markets and social attitudes.

CDR supported the effort by framing questions and digging deep to understand stakeholder values and perspectives, building support for the scientific approach and methodology, and clarifying the outcomes and time frames. For more information, contact Jonathan Bartsch, visit our water practice page or review the CRMP on the Roaring Fork Conservancy website.

CDR Associates worked with Francesc Vendrell, the former personal representative to the UN Secretary General and the Special Representative of the European Union for Afghanistan, to lead a multi-day mediation training session in a module of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Fellowship Programme in Peacemaking and Preventive Diplomacy.  The seminar, organized by UNITAR and the International Peace Institute and held in Oslo, was attended by close to 40 UN staff and foreign service officers from around the world. The mediation module presented effective intermediary procedures and skills using the case of Afghanistan and potential negotiations between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban.  A description of the program can be found in Strengthening the Practice of Peacemaking and Preventive Diplomacy in the United Nations:  The UNITAR Approach, to which CDR’s Chris Moore and Susan Wildau contributed several chapters. For more information, contact Chris Moore or Susan Wildau or visit our training page.

The Government of Liberia is engaging in a process to empower customary communities to have ownership of their historic lands legally recognized under statutory law. This will be a significant achievement, as in the past most land not on the coast and held under statutory law, was directly owned and controlled by the state.  It is expected that greater community control of land and the formation of community-based land management committees will help promote grass-roots driven development.

Part of the procedure for recognition of customary land involves harmonization of community boundaries, the negotiation of mutually acceptable borders between neighboring customary communities.  As part of the process, CDR Partner Christopher Moore, working with Tetra Tech under a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development, has conducted a desk study on international best practices on boundary negotiations and drafted a guidance note to help communities more effectively reach agreements on their boundaries. Contributions to the document on Liberian experiences in negotiating boundaries were made by Parley, CDR’s Liberian partner, based on field studies in 12 communities.  The document, Boundary Harmonization: Effective Negotiation Procedures to Delimit, Demarcate and Resolve Disputes over Boundaries, will be published by Tetra Tech and USAID in the fall of 2016.

In addition to writing Boundary Harmonization, Chris in cooperation with Parley, conducted a five day workshop, including a training-for-trainers component, for Liberian NGOs and government personnel who will be working with communities to prepare them for boundary harmonization activities. For more information, contact Chris Moore or visit our housing, land and property practice area page.

CDR’s 2016 training program was a huge success.  It focused on setting up and facilitating successful multi-party collaborative efforts. We teach you how to address aspects such as technical and political complexity, broad public involvement, media and other components. Our trainers use their personal experience in the field to demonstrate techniques and concepts. Our program blends presentations, group discussion, conflict analysis and strategy design exercises and simulations into a highly engaging learning environment.

The 2017 training dates will be posted later this year.  Please check back or sign up for our mailing list and we’ll notify you automatically.

To learn more about all of our public training opportunities or to register, click here.

CDR is working in cooperation with Resources for the Future (RFF) on a third-party independent assessment of best practices in community engagement in unconventional energy development in the U.S. The research is funded by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and will involve extensive interviews with industry, communities, government and non-governmental stakeholders in oil and gas regions in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas. The research will focus on case studies where industry practices, protocols and behaviors have shown to be successful in addressing community needs and will examine what worked, why it worked, and whether the practices are transferable to other regions. The findings will help stakeholders better understand the challenges and opportunities surrounding hydraulic fracturing in a regional context and how industry operators have worked with communities to overcome challenges and leverage opportunities.

Industry, communities and local governments need more informed guidance to obtain and maintain a social license to operate.  While industry guides list principles and best practices in industry-community engagement, nowhere is there an attempt to assess what actually works, where and why, and how such practices may be adapted to fit various situations. Without such knowledge, industries and communities will continue to butt heads over whether and where hydraulic fracking should occur, how it should occur, and what accountability should exist between the oil and gas industry and local communities. The year-long assessment will be led by CDR Senior Program Manager Todd Bryan, Ph.D. and will be guided by an advisory group composed of regional representatives from industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and field researchers.

For more information, please contact Todd Bryan or visit our energy practice page.

The goal of the WestConnect Coalition is to foster regional alliances and collaboratively design and implement transportation solutions to improve safety and mobility in the western area of the Denver metro region. The Coalition has now selected a technical consultant, David Evans and Associates, to lead the Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) study.

Jonathan Bartsch has been meeting with each of the jurisdictions to identify their unique issues and concerns, facilitating a technical working group and leading the policy level steering committee.

Jonathan and the CDR team will continue to lead the consensus building effort for the Coalition including support for the public engagement process during the 18-month PEL process. Stay tuned for more updates as the PEL gets underway.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Bartsch or visit our transportation practice page.