Collaboration in Natural Resource Management

Collaboration is increasingly being emphasized by land management agencies and stakeholders to address natural resource management issues and implement adaptive management.

One test of collaboration in forest management was conducted in the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project. The University of California Cooperative Extension facilitated collaboration in this 10 year long research project on the effectiveness of forest fuels treatments in national forests of the Sierra Nevada. Stakeholders included state and federal resource management agencies and stakeholders including private landowners, environmental activists, recreationists, and the public.

Social research on the project showed that collaboration was effective at increasing inclusiveness and transparency and fostering learning, improved relationships and shared understanding. An overview of the outcomes of the project is listed in this newsletter:  SNAMP Collaboration final newsletter . For a full description of the collaboration outcomes, please see: Appendix F, Participation Team Final Report.

In addition, since the skills to effectively collaborate, such as facilitation and conflict resolution, are not widely taught, the UC Cooperative Extension team developed a series of curriculum modules and workshops to help engage people learn and practice the collaboration skills needed to be successful.

The curriculum was refined through a series of workshops offered by UCCE to SNAMP scientists, managers and stakeholders in Winter, Spring and Summer 2013 and 2014. This curriculum is available on the SNAMP website as a download:

Facilitation Skills for a Collaborative Adaptive Management Process: A workbook to train natural resource managers and stakeholders in facilitation of collaborative projects by the University of California Cooperative Extension. January 2014.

Information from past workshps can be found on the workshop page.