The Conflict Resolution Program has supported consensus building and collaborative problem solving within states and state governments for a number of years. The intent has been to support an infrastructure of organizations, in and outside of state government, with a capacity to offer and encourage a range of collaborative practices that improve state governance. These include applications of consensus building and collaborative processes to policymaking, regulation and enforcement, licensing and permitting, human resource management, intergovernmental coordination, and other state government functions.
Typically, but not exclusively, the approaches have utilized facilitated negotiation and mediation involving important stakeholders in the issue at hand. Outcomes include collaboratively developed rules, agreements and policies in a wide range of public policy arenas, time and cost savings, effective public engagement in complex public controversies, and more inclusive, transparent, and responsive state governance. The Foundation has provided grants to consensus-building organizations and agencies in selected states as well as to national organizations offering research and support to strengthen collaborative practices in state governance.
The Foundation will not make grants to new organizations in this area, but may make final grants to selected grantees that compose an essential infrastructure supporting state consensus-building practices.
Highlights
The Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI) is a national nonprofit organization working with leaders at the state level – governors, legislators, attorneys general, state agencies, and others – to establish and strengthen the use of collaborative practices in states to bring about more effective governance. PCI offers a nationally recognized source of information on consensus building and conflict resolution, demonstrates the effectiveness of consensus building processes, and creates and supports consensus building capacity, structures, and networks in the states.
The National Policy Consensus Center(NPCC), part of the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University assists public leaders in establishing and strengthening the use of collaborative governing tools to address specific and contentious public policy issues. NPCC conducts applied research and development in the field of collaborative problem solving, and advances knowledge about how to use collaborative approaches in governance.
The Consensus Council, Inc (formerly the North Dakota Consensus Council ) designs processes that bring diverse viewpoints together to seek common ground, leading to the improvement of government structure, services, and policy primarily in North Dakota and the Great Plains. The Council provides a variety of services to support collaborative public policy agreements in areas including disaster mitigation, economic and rural development, education, environment and natural resources, government restructuring and reform, health care, human services and law.
The Center for Collaborative Policy is a joint program of California State University, Sacramento and the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The mission of the Center is to build the capacity of public agencies, stakeholder groups, and the public to use collaborative strategies to improve policy outcomes, and to create and share knowledge about collaborative public policy development and capacity building. The Center also seeks to enhance an emerging collaborative policy and civic engagement network throughout California.