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This course investigates social conflict and distributional disputes in the public sector. While theoretical aspects of conflict are considered, the focus of the class is on the practice of dispute resolution. Comparisons between unassisted and assisted negotiation are reviewed along with the techniques of facilitation and mediation.

A critical challenge in natural resource management is to bring all stakeholders together to negotiate solutions to critical problems. However, various collaborative approaches to heading off conflicts and resolving natural resource management disputes have been used. What drives these efforts, however, still needs further research. Our study provides a systematic look at the drivers likely to initiate collaborative problem-solving efforts in four cases in Romania. We use Emerson’s et al. (2012) framework for collaborative governance and multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (mvQCA) to analyze cases involving endangered species, restrictions on forest harvest, conflicts associated with infrastructure development projects, and disputes over the management of environmentally sensitive areas. Our findings contribute to the already existing collaborative governance literature indicating which of the four factors: uncertainty, interdependence, consequential incentives, and leadership, in which combination, are necessary and sufficient to spur collaborative resource management efforts. Our results showed that in Romania the initiation of collaboration is best explained by positive consequential incentives (i.e., financial opportunities) which has determined leaders to take initiative. This study provides additional information for the complicated process of natural resource management which is often overriding collaboration by investigating what enables and constrains collaborative efforts in a country where natural resources were managed and used according to the principles of central planning.

This article discusses three options that the article dubs as arguing, bargaining, and getting agreement. It emphasizes what seem to be usefully prescriptive norms of behaviour for the 'combatants' in the public policy arena. The article studies discourse between dialogue and discussion; the former refers to the exploration of options, while the latter refers to making decisions. Hard bargaining, negotiating, and organizational learning are the other concepts discussed in the article.

Malaysia has made an ambitious commitment to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions, notably a 40% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2020 and a 45% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030. As with other developing countries, Malaysia’s challenge is to decarbonize its energy-centric economy in the face of population growth pressures and substantial levels of poverty. Drawing on extensive interviews with both public and private stakeholders, we examine how Malaysia has launched its transition to a decarbonized development path. Based on our multi-year analysis, we identify key breakout factors, including behavioral transformations, institutional shifts, and action by a broad network of actors that have allowed Malaysia to begin decarbonizing its economy. At the same time, we note that federal-state friction, limited government capacity, the absence of a centralized management agency, the lack of international funding, incipient environmental awareness, and numerous barriers to investment in renewable energy reinforce carbon lock-in. Our analysis suggests ways in which other rapidly developing countries can learn from Malaysia’s initial successes and challenges. ©2020

The Malaysia Sustainable Cities Practicum is an intensive field-based course that brings 15 graduate students to Malaysia to learn about and analyze sustainable city development in five cities in Malaysia.In the first part of the Practicum, which happens in the fall each year, selected graduate students in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning participate in an online self-study during which they learn about Malaysian culture, history, politics, ecology, geography, planning, and economics. They also learn about reflective practice and journaling. During the January Independent Activities Period, students and faculty travel to Malaysia for two weeks to conduct field-based research in conjunction with student and faculty colleagues at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The Practicum concludes with a one week group session at MIT that generates a Research Agenda spelling out suggested research topics for the next year's cohort of International Scholars. Lead FacultyProfessor Larry Susskind Teaching Assistants Jessica Gordon Yasmin Zaerpoor Administrative Staff Takeo Kuwabara Selmah Goldberg

This Perspectives paper is a comment on Scholz’s “Managing complexity: from visual perception to sustainable transitions—contributions of Brunswik’s Theory of Probabilistic Functionalism”, Environ Syst Decis. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-017-9655-4.

In the first part of this article published in the Summer 2012 issue of ACResolution Magazine, we noted that the principles we proposed in our 1996 book, Dealing with an Angry Public, have been adopted and used successfully by corporations and governments around the world. Yet the public seems to be angrier than ever. We identified three factors that seem to explain that increased anger. In this follow up, we discuss these factors in a bit more detail and offer what we hope will be useful prescriptions.

In 1996, we published the book Dealing with an Angry Public. In it we raised concerns about the distrustful attitudes that citizens have toward government and corporations, and the inability of these institutions to respond to public concerns in a robust, inclusive, and effective way. We put forward six principles that might help win back the public’s trust. We expected that leaders and organizations that adopted these principles would be better off.

There are quite a few people in New York and New Jersey who want the government to do something. They want to make sure that the horrendous effects of Hurricane Sandy are not repeated in the years ahead. In the Northeast, the unusual “superstorm” resulted in extensive property loss and more than 100 deaths. Current estimates are that the storm caused more than $60 billion in damage in New York and New Jersey alone.

This course is the first subject in the Environmental Policy and Planning sequence. It reviews philosophical debates including growth vs. deep ecology, "command-and-control" vs. market-oriented approaches to regulation, and the importance of expertise vs. indigenous knowledge. Its emphasis is placed on environmental planning techniques and strategies. Related topics include the management of sustainability, the politics of ecosystem management, environmental governance and the changing role of civil society, ecological economics, integrated assessment (combining environmental impact assessment (EIA) and risk assessment), joint fact finding in science-intensive policy disputes, environmental justice in poor communities of color, and environmental dispute resolution.

"Révolutionnaire. Les auteurs développent une nouvelle méthode qui changera radicalement la manière dont les organisations prennent leurs décisions et résolvent leurs conflits." Warren BENNIS, auteur d'ouvrages sur le leadership "Heureusement sans jargon, cet ouvrage a le potentiel d'apporter une contribution réelle à la façon dont les gens interagissent." Michael WHEELER, Harvard Business School Pour prendre de bonnes décisions, réformer ou réussir un changement, de nombreuses réunions s'imposent. Mais la désorganisation domine aussi bien leur préparation que leur conduite ou leur suivi. La concertation est souvent bâclée, voire frustrante. La solution à ces dysfonctionnements ne se trouve dans l'application ni de procédures rigides, ni du principe de majorité, ni d'un règlement inadapté. Elle suppose un processus construit et inclusif, en vue de produire une décision de qualité par le consensus le plus large possible. L'élaboration d'un tel consensus requiert une nouvelle forme de leadership, fondée sur la facilitation, laquelle suppose l'émergence de médiateurs capables de conduire à son terme une démarche structurée : la Construction de Consensus par la Concertation ou Méthode "Triple C".

In most democratic countries, government officials make water-allocation decisions. Citizens depend on these officials and their technical advisors to take account of both technical and political considerations in determining which water uses get priority, what infrastructure investments to make and what water quality standards to apply. In many parts of the world, water users and stakeholders have additional opportunities to comment on such decisions before they are implemented. Under some circumstances, citizens can challenge water management decisions in court. This is not enough. More direct democracy, involving stakeholders before such decisions are made, can produce fairer and increasingly sustainable results. The steps in collaborative adaptive management – a form of stakeholder engagement particularly appropriate to managing complex water networks – are described in this article along with the reasons that traditional forms of representative democracy are inadequate when it comes to water policy.

This page is a course overview for Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) course 11.364, International Environmental Negotiation.  The site contains materials from a graduate research seminar on complex negotiations of international environmental issues. The class explores the challenges of the widespread environmental phenomena and the strategies needed to successfully negotiate solutions with complex groups of stakeholders. The site provides lecture notes and an extensive list of readings, along with a syllabus and calendar.  The production and distribution of this resource is part of MIT OpenCourseWare, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to put all of the educational materials from its undergraduate and graduate-level courses online and make them freely accessible.