Distinguishing Features of CONCUR'S Training Courses


CONCUR'S training courses have several distinguishing features that set us apart from other providers of negotiation training programs:  
 

  • Instructors Have Rigorous Training in Negotiation and Mediation. CONCUR Principals, who serve as Senior Instructors in our training courses, are meticulously trained in the process skills of the art and science of negotiation and dispute resolution. Both Principals served as Associates at the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program where they trained with leading theorists in the field. They each earned Ph.D.s from MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Berkeley Principal Scott McCreary earned his doctorate with an emphasis in environmental policy and conflict resolution, while Santa Cruz Principal John Gamman earned his with a concentration in comparative environmental policy, conflict resolution and policy implementation. Very few other trainers have doctoral level training in the field.  CONCUR Associates are also trained negotiators and mediators.

     
  • Dual Expertise. In addition to our advanced training in negotiation, we also possess dual expertise in the natural and social sciences. CONCUR Principals and Associates have substantive knowledge of environmental science, law, policy analysis, and management. In addition, we have broad experience working across a range of substantive issues including groundwater contamination, watershed management, flood protection, and wetland restoration.
     
     
  • Training Courses Built from Professional Practice. CONCUR grounds what is taught in the classroom with lessons learned from our active mediation practice. In our project work, detailed elsewhere on this web site, we utilize our dual expertise by applying a range of analytic, strategic planning, and negotiation skills to help a range of clients make difficult decisions. We provide the full range of professional services needed to support this primary objective, including the employment of state-of-the-art communication and information technology. Since 1987, CONCUR has built over thirty agreements on a wide range of complex environmental policy, planning, and natural resource issues. We bring that real-world experience into the training classroom, by using it to inform our lectures and discussions.
     
     
  • Ability to Customize Training Based on Client's Work. Often, we design customized training programs for parties involved in an
    actual negotiation to equip them with tools to be more effective negotiators. For example, earlier this year CONCUR customized a series of three training courses for PG & E; in 1999 we customized a simulation for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board that dealt with initiating the cleanup for a contaminated site adjacent to the San Francisco Bay. The five parties involved included representatives from the Regional Water Quality Control Board,     the City Manager from an affected community, a corporate representative, and a geohydrologist. Participants, while role-playing, were required to define the scope of the investigation and extent of the cleanup. Participants were also tasked with agreeing upon issues such as site access, the extent of the remedial investigation, and the need for a risk assessment.
  • CONCUR’S Stance as a "Reflexive Practitioner". We at CONCUR take seriously the challenge and opportunity to reflect on our practice, and use it to inform the training courses we teach. Each year, we strive to write about and make presentations at conferences about our practice. Similarly, we find that our training courses are an excellent way to both reflect on our practice and to link theoretical concepts with real world results. We aim to share this synthesis with our course participants. Please see our Presentations page for a list of recent lectures and presentations given by CONCUR staff.
  • Robust Portfolio of Simulations. Over the past 18 years, CONCUR has developed a number of simulation exercises to give course participants the opportunity to function as negotiators, facilitators, and mediators. These simulations portray a scenario from some aspect of environmental management and decision making. We have crafted simulations to model such issues as reconciling development and wetland protection, remediating toxic waste sites, initiating and framing dialogues on complex policy issues, and making decisions about regional infrastructure and industrial development. Our simulations typically include a set of confidential instructors for each of several negotiation parties. Most of the simulations are aimed at producing a specific outcome. Some of these simulations are "scorable" in that participants must accumulate a certain total; others are semi-scorable in that preferences are given for each party; still others are more open-ended. All of the simulations reinforce negotiation principles. Simulation exercises typically involve three steps: preparation, conducting the simulation itself, and then debriefing. We update our simulations regularly to reflect evolving political and legislative developments.
  • Presentations Keyed to Teaching Notes and Slides. CONCUR has produced a series of short Teaching Notes, which we use to structure our presentations. We also use power point presentations to enhance and reinforce the material we teach visually.
  • Theory Annotated and Reinforced with Anecdotes From Practice. During our lectures and debriefs, we routinely reinforce the theory and principles we teach with anecdotes from practice, and from other research ongoing in the field.
  • Coursebook Includes Resource Guide. Our Coursebook includes a Resource Guide, which we update quarterly. The Resource Guide includes sections on graduate programs in environmental and public policy dispute resolution, professional programs in dispute resolution, book and articles, journals and newsletters relevant for dispute resolution.
  • Congenial Course Meals. We invite course participants to join us for lunch at our own private dining room at the conference center. Lunches include fresh salads, hot meat and vegetarian entrees, as well as dessert and coffee or tea. We also host the entire class for dinner one evening at a local restaurant in Berkeley. We find that these gatherings offer an important yet informal opportunity for participants to reflect on course activities and share their professional perspectives.
     
     

WHAT COURSE PARTICIPANTS HAVE SAID ABOUT CONCUR'S COURSES

  • The CONCUR instructors are very easy to listen to, very informative, very respectful and inclusive, even entertaining. The case examples were excellent, the mix of participants extraordinary. I am really impressed with the whole package."
    -Attorney, Oakland, CA
  • "The caliber of CONCUR's work is what shines through, and your intention to share hard-earned wisdom is clearly present. Thank you for bringing this quality of work to environmental disputes!"
    -Mediator, Ukiah, CA
  • "CONCUR's training provides resource agencies the tools they need to each sustainable environmental agreements to the most complex issues. The trainers are well organized and present practical hands-on negotiation techniques."
    - Natural Heritage Supervisor, CA Department of Fish and Game