CONCUR has been hired by a range of clients to design and manage complex public policy dialogues. We work as facilitators, mediators and policy analysts while crafting each individual collaborative process to maximize the potential for reaching a binding agreement. The list below of CONCUR's international projects is in reverse chronological order. For a list of international projects by subject, click here.
For a summary, please see CONCUR's International Work Fact Sheet. CONCUR has developed downloadable Fact Sheet PDFs that describe our firm and services, and these are linked below. The Fact Sheets summarize the key elements of our services and present examples from selected cases. They present a useful first-level description of our work. We customize these materials for specific SOQ and RFP submittals. We would welcome a chance to discuss the needs of specific projects with you. Please do not circulate or distribute these Fact Sheets without first contacting CONCUR. Click here for one PDF with all eight CONCUR Fact Sheets.
International Project Work
Okavango Watershed and Basin "Sharing Water" Project in Southern Africa
Facilitated Dialogue on International Marine Turtle Conservation
Restoration Concepts for the Tigris-Euphrates Marshlands
St. Lawrence River Coastal and Shoreline Management Project
Center for Environmental Leadership
Caribbean Institute for Resource Management
Natural Resource Management Project in St. Kitts-Nevis (OECS)
Overcoming Obstacles in Environmental Policymaking
Neutral Fact-Finding Effects of Oil and Gas Exploration in the Ecuadorian Oriente
Integrated Coastal Resources Management in West Africa
Environmental Dispute Resolution in the UK
Environmental Negotiation Training in Bulgaria/Hungary
Israel Workshop on Environmental Dispute Resolution
Seminar on Public Participation in Democratic Design for the Pacific Rim
Conference on Planning for the Future of the Tokyo Bay Wetlands
Training and Coaching for Philippines-Based NGOs
International Association for Environmental Impact Assessment, Australia
Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand
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 parties.
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.” 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:
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;
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;
providing greater stakeholder input on the design of the TOR and accompanying public consultation process, in order to generate constructive participation; and
beginning to re-build trust among the EMA's staff and other stakeholders.
In 2003-2004, CONCUR provided strategic planning and facilitation services to assist key governmental agencies to form a stronger partnership in the vast Pacific Islands Region. In the spring of 2003, the Pacific Islands Region was established as an autonomous region within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The establishment of the new region created a strong impetus for the three federal agencies primarily responsible for fisheries management and conservation in the region - The Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, the Pacific Islands Regional Office, and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center - to begin acting together in a more coordinated, cohesive, and integrated fashion. Interaction among the three organizations had suffered in the past from conflicting organizational mandates, differing emphases on research and policy goals, poor communication, divergent organizational cultures, and outright competition for budget allocations. To address these challenges, the three organizations committed to co-develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the entire region.
To assist in this process, CONCUR worked with the executive officers of the three organizations to design a work plan for improving inter-organizational cooperation and effectiveness. This entailed a series of joint planning activities, including several staff workshops. The purposes of the workshops were to: introduce the three organizations, and their staffs, to each other; solicit staff input on strategic planning goals and priorities and on how to better link the organizations' respective research, policy, and management missions; and establish a series of "operating protocols" by which the three organizations would work together to accomplish key actions requiring cross-organizational collaboration. CONCUR also worked with the executive officers and high level staff from the three organizations - via in-person, teleconference, and videoconference meetings - to articulate priority actions for the new region, a schedule and interim milestones for accomplishing these actions, and associated budgetary needs.
An early work product of this effort - rolled out in March 2004 at a public workshop in Honolulu attended by over 100 people - was a 20-page document entitled "Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Management of Marine Resources in the Pacific Islands Region - Summary." Of particular note, the three organizations jointly proposed to increase budget allocations for the new region from $37 million to $73 million.
CONCUR served as facilitator and trainer for this US-AID funded initiative, lead by the Berkeley-based Natural Heritage Institute, which is aimed at strengthening the information base to support transboundary natural resource planning for the Okavango-Kubango River system. With a watershed rising in Angola, the Okavango flows through Namibia and terminates in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Other project partners include IUCN, the Namibian Nature Foundation, and Angola-based NGOs.Facilitated Dialogue on International Fisheries Management: Longline Fishing, Seabird and Sea Turtle Mortality
CONCUR was retained by the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council to help design and facilitate the Second Annual Fisher's Conference, held in Honolulu Hawaii November 18-22, 2002. Participants included over 200 representatives of the fishing, scientific, and NGO community from 28 nations, including the U.S, New Zealand, Australia, Micronesia, Chile, Argentina, Japan, and China. A specific focus of the session was to generate options for reducing mortality to sea birds and sea turtles associated with longline fishing. The session culminated in the development of over 20 "commitments" of individuals or groups of participants to reduce seabird and sea turtle bycatch.CONCUR was retained by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to help design and facilitate an International Technical Expert Workshop on Marine Turtle Bycatch in Longline Fisheries. The workshop - which took place in Seattle, Washington from February 11-13, 2003 - brought together fisheries managers, leading researchers, environmentalists, and fishing industry representatives from 19 countries in North and South America, East Asia, and Europe as well as three intergovernmental institutions. The objectives were to exchange information regarding the fishing operations of national fleets, evaluate existing information on turtle bycatch in longline fisheries, facilitate and standardized the collection of data, exchange information on experimentation with longline gear relative to turtles and target species, and consider solutions to reduce turtle bycatch. Workshop participants identified six primary strategies for moving forward and produced a prioritized list of over 100 associated concrete action steps for reducing marine turtle interactions with longline fisheries and mortality. The results were presented at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Committee on Fisheries session in late February, 2003.Restoration Concepts for the Tigris-Euphrates Marshlands
CONCUR worked on this innovative initiative, sponsored by the Iraq Foundation, the U.S. State Department and other funders. The aim of the project, known as "Eden Again" is to outline scientifically sound concepts that can be used to facilitate the restoration of the Mesopotamian Marshlands-including the Hammar, Haweizeh, and central marsh-- which are located within modern day Iraq and Iran. Once encompassing over 20,000 square kilometers, these marshlands play a key role in the intercontinental flyway of migratory birds and support numerous endangered species, but have virtually disappeared over the past few decades. In February 2003, Principal Scott McCreary and Associate Rebecca Bryson facilitated an international technical workshop that brought together a panel of 20 scientists with expertise in ecology, hydrology, and geochemistry. Panelists articulated restoration challenges from the standpoint of their discipline, outlined a series of ecological functions that could be accomplished developed and evaluating a series of preliminary restoration options for the marshlands. A Report summarizing the scientists' findings and recommendations was produced in April of 2003. A recent news account of the project and the Panel's work can be found on NPR. For further information on this project, please visit the Iraq Foundation website.
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.
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.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.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.
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 EcuadorÕs Oriente Region", which was published in Cultural Survival Quarterly. Reprint 95-01.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.
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.
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.
In January, 1999 CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary joined a team of international experts as a presenter and facilitator at the first-ever national conference on Environmental Dispute Resolution in Israel. The workshop, sponsored by the Neiman Center at Technion University in Haiffa (Yona Shamir, Director) was convened at the Maale Hahamisha Kibbutz Guesthouse, 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 worked in facilitated sessions on 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.
CONCUR Principal Scott 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 ongoing 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" was published in the proceedings.
In 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. 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.
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.
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.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.