CONCUR has maintained an active international practice. CONCUR has completed a series of assignments for a variety of clients. These have included national government ministries, NGOs, as well as consortia of donor banks, and educational institutions to promote sustainable development and introduce dispute resolution techniques. The assignments range from policy-making and institution building to strategic planning, neutral fact-finding and professional development activities.
I. Policy-making and Implementation
Managing Coastal Resources and International Assistance Efforts (USAID): CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary has co-authored the book, Institutional Arrangements for Managing Coastal Resources and Environments for USAID with colleague Jens Sorensen. It is designed to guide the sustainable coastal zone planning and conservation efforts of international assistance organizations that support the creation of national coastal resources management programs. The book presents various coastal zone management strategies, an array of alternate institutional arrangements and supplements, and guidelines for program evaluation. The book has been translated into Spanish and Italian, and has been used and cited widely by coastal resources managers worldwide.
Overcoming Obstacles in Environmental Policymaking: CONCUR Principal John Gamman conducted field work in St. Kitts, St. Lucia, and Barbados to evaluate the political decision-making around development projects in tropical environments and to examine why the lending policies of international donor agencies often fail in developing countries. The research was published in 1994 in his book entitled, Overcoming Obstacles in Environmental Policymaking: Creating Partnerships through Mediation (SUNY Press) which offers several methods for addressing the political, economic and cultural complexities of large-scale environmental problems.
Integrated Coastal Resources Management in West Africa: Working with senior colleagues active in coastal zone management, CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary co-lead a 12-nation workshop in Mbour, Senegal on integrated coastal zone management for West Africa. The meeting, co-sponsored by USAID, the US National Park’s Service’s International Program’s Division, and IUCN, brought together natural resource planners and managers from diverse perspectives to explore the potential for innovative approaches to coastal resource management. Participants came from Senegal, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, The Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Nigeria and a broad array of donor agencies, multilateral banks and international educational institutions.
As part of this work, McCreary used a single text negotiation model to help the national representatives and their international counterparts work collaboratively to develop a unified list of policies and action steps to advance natural resource management and to identify issues of mutual concern for future work. The workshop resulted in a comprehensive review of West African coastal natural resources, prioritization of conservation concerns, and an assessment of the current level of scientific knowledge related to these topics. Scott McCreary co-authored the final report, "Prospects for Integrated Coastal Resources Management in West Africa." May 1988. 57 pp.
St. Lawrence River Coastal and Shoreline Managment Project: CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary advised a consortium of researchers and government planners on options for developing "Project Archipel", an initiative to improve coastal and shoreline management for the metropolitan region of Montreal within its St. Lawrence River context. The consultancy focussed on alternative management options and institutional arrangements. Particular emphasis was placed on extracting lessons from other urban coastal cities, particularly the San Francisco Bay Region.
II. Institution Building
Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand: The CONCUR team has completed several initiatives in New Zealand. In 1990, the Ministry for the Environment brought John Gamman and Scott McCreary to New Zealand to present a three course series to senior resource planners, officials in the private sector, and Maori leaders in workshops convened in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. This was followed with a consultancy for the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) emphasizing the use of collaborative planning techniques for regional infrastructure planning. ARC, a national leader in environmental planning, had implemented several innovative programs of public involvement in environmental decision-making. The CONCUR team was asked to help develop a set of recommendations for achieving more effective decision-making on environmental issues in response to the growing sophistication of all involved parties. This effort resulted in the report titled "Findings on the Current Status of Efforts to Resolve Pressing Environmental Disputes in the Auckland Region and Recommendations for the Future." June, 1990. 36 pp.
The following year, the team returned to conduct additional training, to lead a customized course for the Department of Conservation, and to conduct additional consulting emphasizing methods to improve collaborative decision making between the Maori community and the Auckland Regional Council. As part of this consultancy, the team authored the report "Strengthening Cross-Cultural Dialogue in the Maori Community in Auckland Region." May, 1991. 20 pp. The team has also advised the Ministry for the Environment, Government of New Zealand how to incorporate negotiation and mediation techniques into its programs related to the Treaty of Waitangi, Resource Management Law Reform, and Local Government Review.
National Culture and the Environment (USAID): CONCUR Principal Dr. Gamman has conducted two projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which analyzed the importance of national culture in environmental policy implementation, and recommended various methods for designing a decision-making process to carry out natural resource management policy reforms. The results were used as the base for a subsequent USAID project Implementing Policy Change within Developing Country Governments.
Caribbean Institute for Resource Management: Dr. Gamman was also hired by the Caribbean Institute for Resource Management, U.S. Virgin Islands, to provide support for university faculty members throughout the Caribbean region, to show them how to incorporate negotiation and environmental dispute resolution cases into existing curricula for natural resource management courses. This work emphasized the role of politics and policymaking in development decisions and recommended how training materials should fit local cultural conditions. This work was presented via simultaneous translation into English, Spanish and French. The resulting curricula were translated in several languages for use at universities in the region.
III. Strategic Planning and Neutral Fact-Finding
Strategic Advice/Stakeholder Assessment on Proposed Alcoa Aluminum Smelter for Trinidad and Tobago Environmental Management Agency: CONCUR is a member of a team retained to provide advice to the Trinidad and Tobago Environmental Management Authority (EMA) on the review of a major aluminum smelter proposal. Alcoa applied to EMA for a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) to build an aluminum smelter and associated facilities. The proposed smelter would be located on the Cedros Peninsula in southwestern Trinidad and have an annual capacity of 341,000 metric tons. In July 2006, the EMA accepted Alcoa's CEC application and determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required. CEC Rules require EIAs to be conducted in compliance with a Terms of Reference (TOR) document. An international team headed by the Trinidad-based firm DaCosta Gwendoline, Limited (DGE) including CONCUR and the Consensus Building Institute was retained in early September 2006 to assist EMA in the design of the social impact, public involvement and socioeconomic baseline elements of the TOR. Central to our approach was a situation assessment, built upon over 20 interviews with a broad cross section of key stakeholders including senior officials of Alcoa, senior government officials, journalists, academicians, local residents, and representatives of the agriculture and fishing communities. The Team used the assessment to identify and clarify the diversity and complexity of stakeholder interests, the range of issues to be engaged, and areas of convergence and divergence among key stakeholders.
The assessment recommended that the TOR call for the EIA process to incorporate steps that address the complexity and high degree of public controversy and elevate the exchange of information. Our team drew on the situation assessment to propose specific language to be included in the final TOR. The EMA consulted with the Applicant, Alcoa and received comments from a broad cross-section of stakeholders and considered our team's advice to the final TOR issued on October 4, 2006. EMA has adopted these recommendations and will proceed with the environmental review. Specifically, the TOR calls for the use of independent scientific review and neutral facilitation of public workshops in which Alcoa representatives will engage key issues about the smelter with local residents and other interested parities. Often, public agencies such as the EMA and private parties face a potential dispute and need to size up the situation. A situation or conflict assessment can be defined as "an objective evaluation of the situation conducted by neutral experts based on confidential interviews with stakeholders to provide strategic information and define feasible options for moving the given process forward.Ó In natural resource management projects, situation assessments can also serve to inform the structure and content of draft resource management plans. We find that such an assessment step lays the foundation for better-informed and better-focused collaborative discussion, whether among technical experts or stakeholders.
In this case, the assessment was focused on:
o identifying and interviewing a representative sample of the most key stakeholders to interview in a very limited timeframe before the issuance of a final TOR;
o identifying issues and concerns to be addressed in the social impact assessment and civic engagement processes for the Alcoa CEC application and specifically the EIA;
o providing greater stakeholder input on the design of the TOR and accompanying public consultation process, in order to generate constructive participation; and
o beginning to re-build trust among the EMA's staff and other stakeholders.
Environmental Policy and Training Project (USAID): Drs. Gamman and McCreary were hired by Winrock International to organize and facilitate a strategic planning process with 30 professionals from throughout the United States, comprising the EPAT team for USAID. This effort was the kick-off for the worldwide, multi-year Environmental Policy and Training Project (EPAT). This USAID-funded program provided technical assistance and training designed to promote sustainable development for government officials in developing countries.
Neutral Fact-Finding Effects of Oil and Gas Exploration in the Ecuadorian Oriente: CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary teamed with three colleagues from the University of California at Berkeley to conduct an independent review of ARCO’s oil and gas exploration in the Ecuadorian Oriente. The review, jointly commissioned by proponents and critics of oil exploration, focussed initially on the adequacy of the environmental documentation, was quickly broadened to include the full scope of the planning process. The study arose at the suggestion of UC Berkeley faculty, who proposed that an independent review could help bring light to an ongoing disagreement between ARCO and US NGOs about the extent and severity of environmental impacts. Sponsoring organizations included ARCO International Oil and Gas Company (AIOGC), AIOGC Safety, Health and Environmental Protection, ARCO Oriente, Organization de Pueblos Indigenas de Pastaza (OPIP), the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), and Oxfam International.
In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the environmental planning and impact assessment process to date, the group was also asked to recommend strategies to improve the quality of environmental decision-making in the region.
Dr. McCreary served as the lead author of the team’s final report "Independent Review of Environmental Documentation for Petroleum Exploration in Block 10, Oriente, Ecuador", published under the auspices of the Center for Environmental Design Research, UC Berkeley, and co-authored by Professors. G. Matthias Kondolf, Robert Twiss, and Joseph McBride. The review included a series of findings and recommendations, and was presented in an interactive session with indigenous leaders and representatives of ARCO at UC Berkeley’ s College of Environmental Design. Dr. McCreary later wrote an article reflecting on this experience "Independent Fact-Finding as a Catalyst for Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Assessing Impacts of Oil and Gas Development in Ecuador’s Oriente Region", which was published in the Cultural Survival Quarterly. Reprint 95-01.
Development Strategies for the Fragile Lands project (USAID, DAI): Dr. Gamman was hired by Development Alternatives, Inc. and the USAID to contribute to the AID's Development Strategies for the Fragile Lands project. Based on experience while developing three case studies of the relationship between donor agencies and national governments related to the adoption and implementation of new environmental protection laws and policies, Dr. Gamman contributed a chapter on non-economic incentives to promote effective natural resource management as part of DESFIL Fragile Lands Synthesis Report, published in 1992. This work included recommendations and methodology for conducting political stakeholder analysis during project design and implementation to enhance resource protection, and was presented to top USAID officials at U.S. State Department.
Conference on Planning for the Future of the Tokyo Bay Wetlands June, 1999: Dr. McCreary made the lead presentation at a public conference on the Future of the Wetlands of Tokyo Bay, sponsored by Chiba University in Chiba, Japan. His presentation examined the history of planning for the wetlands of the San Francisco Bay and potential lessons to be applied to the Japanese context. The one-day conference attracted about 150 people, mostly citizens and associates of Chiba University. The presentations reviewed the history of planning and restoration of SF Bay, and posed a series of questions for consideration by decision-makers, activists, and scientists.
Natural Resource Management Project in St. Kitts-Nevis (OECS): Dr. Gamman was retained by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Natural Resource Management Project to develop and present the Plan of Operations for St. Kitts-Nevis National Coastal Resource Management Project. While presenting the results of this work in the Caribbean, John acted as liaison between OECS and the St. Kitts/Nevis government, while coordinating several ministries to create a three-year plan to strengthen national policies and regulations for protection and management of coastal resources.
Organization of American States, the Caribbean: Finally, Dr. John Gamman also consulted to the Organization of American States to investigate why regional cooperative programs in the Caribbean designed to achieve environmentally sustainable economic growth are difficult to implement.
IV. Training and Professional Development
Israel Workshop on Environmental Dispute Resolution: Dr. McCreary joined a team of international experts as a presenter and facilitator at the first-ever national conference on Environmental Dispute Resolution in Israel in 1999. The workshop, sponsored by the Neiman Center at Technion University in Haiffa, just outside of Jerusalem. Prior to the conference, McCreary conducted a series of site visits with colleagues to gain a better understanding of land use conflicts in the coastal zone from the Lebanese border to Haiffa and Tel Aviv. Other foreign participants in the workshop were Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Environmental Planning at MIT, Michael Elliot, Professor of Planning at Georgia Tech, and as well as Frans Evers, and Paul de Jong, both leading practitioners from the Netherlands. Each presenter emphasized the use of mediation for a different type of substantive environmental dispute. Dr. McCreary's presentation emphasized use of mediation to resolve coastal land use disputes. Then, he facilitated discussions among parties to dispute a specific marina proposal near Tel Aviv, and then in plenary sessions. The conference attracted between 125 and 150 participants, including representatives of the Justice Ministry, Environment Ministry, Interior Ministry, and senior representatives of major municipalities. The conference is regarded as a major catalyst for the emerging practice of mediation in Israel.
Seminar on Public Participation in Democratic Design for the Pacific Rim: Dr. McCreary has participated as one of a group of 30 scholars and practitioners from the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong who are engaged in on-going cross-cultural dialogue examining ways to strengthen democratic design making in the Pacific Rim. The second annual conference took place in Saitama, Japan. Participants included academics from UC Berkeley and UC Davis, Tokyo University, National Taiwan University, and other academic institutions in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong as well as a few consultants. McCreary's presentation was entitled "Participation and Representation in Environmental Decision Making: Reflections on a Negotiation-Based Model of Practice" is to be published in a forthcoming proceedings. The next Pacific Rim workshop is to take place in Taiwan in 2001.
International Association for Environmental Impact Assessment, Australia: Drs. Gamman and McCreary have led three training courses on effective environmental negotiation in both Brisbane and Canberra in Australia. The first, convened in conjunction with the International Association for Environmental Impact Assessment, an international association of planners, architects, and scientists active in all facets of environmental planning, was primarily targeted at governmental officials, NGO leaders, private business representatives. As a supplement to this course, the Principals offered a short course in Brisbane to a group of South Pacific Island governmental representatives from Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, and other Pacific Rim nations. A third course was convened under the auspices of the Canberra College for Advanced Education and included representatives of a wide range of public and private sector organizations.
Training and Coaching for Philippines-Based NGOs: CONCUR has provided training and coaching for two separate teams of Philippines-based NGOs, one from Co-Train and one from the other from Tanggol Kalikasan/Haribon Foundation. The sessions focussed on the potential use and application of ADR techniques to environmental disputes in the Philippines. Both workshops took place at CONCUR's Berkeley offices, and emphasized the integration of ADR and institutional capacity building.
Environmental Negotiation Training in Bulgaria/Hungary: In close collaboration with Partners for Democratic Change, CONCUR designed and a series of training courses on environmental negotiation in Nosvaj, Hungary, Bourgas, Bulgaria and Haskovo, Bulgaria. The courses were designed to introduce senior government officials and NGO leaders in these newly democratic countries to alternative styles of mediation, to demonstrate how to create credible auspices for a mediation, and to build greater legitimacy in the participatory decision-making process. Course participants included members of the Hungarian parliament, government cabinet members, regional environmental enforcement officers, members of the NGO Ecoglasnost, and regional planners and architects.
Environmental Dispute Resolution in the UK: Under the auspices of the London-based Centre for Environmental Dispute Resolution (CEDR), a leading international provider of training in mediation and communication techniques, CONCUR designed and led the first-ever training course on Environmental Dispute Resolution in the United Kingdom in 1992. Participants included barristers, solicitors, and senior officials from the public and private sector. Represented were British Rail, the Greenwich Waterfront Authority, the Marine Conservation Society, the Forest Protection Society, the World-Wide Fund for Nature, British Telecom, the Trades Union Congress, the Forestry Commission, and several other NGOs and private sector organizations.
Center for Environmental Leadership: Dr. Gamman consulted with the Coolidge Center for Environmental Leadership in Cambridge, MA to develop and present a comprehensive workshop curriculum. This workshop integrated environmental management and dispute resolution for officials from developing countries. Participants included senior government officials from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.