CONCUR has drawn upon its experience in resolving tough disputes in both the public and private sectors to design a specialized training program. The CONCUR training program provides participants with the tools to help resolve complex disputes within or between organizations and agencies.

This program was developed in response to a growing demand for more effective problem-solving skills among top policy makers and administrators, business, industry and community groups and attorneys. CONCUR offers two annual open-enrollment training courses: “Negotiating Effective Environmental Agreements,” a two-day introductory course, and “Facilitating and Mediating Effective Environmental Agreements,” an advanced three-day course.

We also offer private, customized training programs. We work with organizations to determine their training needs and then design courses specifically tailored to the issues they are working to resolve. CONCUR staff have designed and taught dozens of customized training programs for clients, including: the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the California State Water Resources Control Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards, Nevada Division of Water Planning, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Our international training experience includes the New Zealand Environment Court, water resource managers in Angola, Namibia, and Botswana, and the New Zealand Ministries for the Environment and the Department of Conservation.

Negotiation over complex environmental issues is often required in the day-to-day work of natural resource managers, agency regulators, non- governmental organization representatives, planners and applied scientists.

Yet for many of these professionals, negotiation techniques and their practical application were not part of their earlier training. CONCUR’s professional development courses are specifically designed to equip professionals with these skills. Our education and real-world experience make us a premier provider of environmental negotiation, facilitation and mediation training services.

Instructors Have Rigorous Training in:

  • Negotiation and Mediation: CONCUR instructors are meticulously trained in the process skills of the art and science of negotiation and dispute resolution.
  • Dual Expertise: CONCUR Principal and co-trainers have substantive knowledge of environmental science, law, policy analysis, and management.
  • Robust Portfolio of Simulations: CONCUR has developed a number of unique simulation exercises to give course participants the opportunity to function as negotiators, facilitators, and mediators on issues such as reconciling development and wetland protection, remediating toxic waste sites, framing dialogues on complex policy issues, and making decisions about regional infrastructure and industrial development. We update our simulations regularly to reflect evolving political and legislative developments.
  • Training Courses Built from Professional Practice: CONCUR grounds what is taught in the classroom with lessons learned from our active mediation practice. We bring that real-world experience into the training classroom and use it to inform our lectures and discussions.
  • University Teaching Experience: CONCUR instructors have each had university teaching experience and understand how to bridge theory and practice to enrich the experience of course participants.

Click here to review our Course Prospectus for further information.

Participant Feedback

“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.” – Land Use Attorney

“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!” – Environmental Consultant

“CONCUR’s training provides resource agencies the tools they need to reach sustainable environmental agreements to the most complex issues. The trainers are well organized and present practical hands-on negotiation techniques.” – Government Affairs Officer

“This is the most useful training I have ever received. I feel confident that I will be able to apply what I learned immediately. You have also set me on a continual learning path in this approach and skill set. What an accomplishment in 2 days!” – Negotiating Effective Environmental Agreements course participant

“Small simulation groups were great. In many classes all the simulations are large and allow people (me) to be relatively quiet and uninvolved. The small groups made it impossible to not participate and therefore really improved my level of involvement and learning.” – Facilitating and Mediating Effective Environmental Agreements course participant

 

Negotiating Effective Environmental Agreements

In today’s workplace negotiation is often a required part of the day-to-day activities of many professionals working in the environment, energy, natural resource management, and land use planning fields. While you or your staff may have had some exposure to negotiation, CONCUR’s training will take your experience to the next level of professional practice and enable you to produce more powerful negotiated agreements.

CONCUR’s intensive two-day workshop is designed to meet the needs of professionals who are in a position to negotiate environmental agreements. In this course, we show you how the process of face-to-face negotiation can augment traditional policy making with creative agreements that are better informed and more stable. During the training, course members will learn the elements of mutual gains bargaining, apply them in a series of simulated disputes, and reflect on the application of these tools to everyday work situations.

Topics include:

  • CONCUR’s stepwise model of negotiated agreements
  • Hands-on simulations focused on environmental issues
  • Role distinctions: negotiators, mediators, and technical advisors
  • Ethical responsibilities of negotiators
  • Engaging your current cases: advice on improving environmental decision-making
  • Negotiation styles and techniques–tools for effective negotiation and strengthening decision-making
  • Negotiation case studies–topics ranges from land use permitting and water resources management to ocean policy and joint fact-finding on complex issues

Our next training in Negotiating Effective Environmental Agreements is in Oakland on November 14-15, 2019. Register here.

For questions or more information, please contact Scott McCreary at scott@concurinc.net or call (510) 649-8008.

Facilitating and Mediating Effective Agreements

This intensive three-day course is designed to meet the needs of professionals who are considering use of facilitated or mediated approaches for collaborative problem solving, but have limited experience applying these tools to environmental policy disputes. In this course you’ll learn the art of facilitation and mediation through practical lessons of environmental dispute cases, in-class simulations, and a series of short presentations. Participants will complete this course with improved confidence in their abilities to effectively act as a facilitator or mediator in an environmental negotiation.

Topics Include:

  • Designing Ground Rules for Negotiation
  • Creating Agendas for Negotiated Meetings
  • Structuring Joint Fact Finding Processes
  • Creating Protocols for Ratification
  • Seeking Mutual Gains in Situations that appear to be “winner take all”
  • Mediating complex multiparty negotiations
  • Incorporating facilitation and mediation in organizational procedures
  • Examining case studies of successful multiparty negotiations
  • Structuring and conducting a stakeholder assessment

Course II workshop dates are still being determined, please check back for updates. For questions or more information, please contact Scott McCreary at scott@concurinc.net or call (510) 649-8008.