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Projects (Current)
Here is a sample of our current projects.
For more information about any of these projects, please
email us!
ADR Training for Preservation Issues
(May 2005 - ongoing)
IEN was invited to develop a training for people who are managing projects involving historical preservation and natural resources, including SHPOs, Transportation agencies, Business, Environmental nonprofits, and others. The 3-day training builds capacity for conflict resolution, negotiation and consensus building in projects involving the Section 106 and NEPA regulatory frameworks.
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Center for Expertise in Superfund Site Recycling (ongoing)
Site redevelopment requires authentic public involvement and cooperation among diverse interests and institutions, including EPA, state, tribal and local governments, citizens groups, non-governmental advocates, and the private economic sector. IEN will study community involvement and collaborative decision-making among these interests and institutions. Key questions include: What principles and practices of community involvement and collaborative decision processes are most likely to lead to decisions and actions that are well informed, legitimate in the eyes of direct stakeholders and other interested parties, and likely to be implemented? How can community preferences concerning future land use be better informed and developed? At what point should community preferences for redevelopment be first solicited? What sort of changes in remediation strategies and new roles for scientists and engineers in the early stages of site redevelopment may be suggested by any proposed recommendations for community involvement and collaborative decision making?
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Community Solutions (ongoing)
Funded by a NAFCM grant to the Virginia Association for Community Conflict Resolution (VACCR)  , IEN developed a training for community mediation centers and their experienced mediators to build their capacity to facilitate complex multii-party community issues. IEN conducted 2-day workshops for 8 centers in Virginia, and many of these centers are using these skills to facilitate local community issues.
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Community-Based Collaboratives Research Consortium (CBCRC) (1999-ongoing)
Funded by Hewlett Foundation, the IEN is coordinating a national research and outreach network to evaluate the potential value of CBCs, specifically how they do, and do not, satisfy the needs of communities, agencies, and organizations involved in protecting and managing natural resources. A "Community-based collaborative" is essentially a committee of stakeholders that seeks consensus agreements for management of a specific natural resource, most typically federally-owned lands. These collaboratives are gaining in popularity among communities who benefit from and utilize these publicly-owned resources. At the same time, criticism over these locally derived management plans also has increased, along with questions concerning the legality of locally negotiated agreements. In some cases, there may be potential conflicts with existing federal laws, as well as far reaching implications for national environmental policy about resource management plans. The Consortium's on-line database of projects, research, books, and journals about collaborative approaches can be viewed at Consortium Website.
CBCRC homepage
March 3, 2004 Press Release: U.Va. based research concortium receives grant to study environmental outcomes of collaboration.
Click here to view the Press Release (PDF).
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Crab Management Strategy Facilitation for Maryland and Virginia (1999 - ongoing)
Concerns over the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab resource have led the Chesapeake Bay Commission to establish a Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC) , which will develop recommendations for future management of the blue crab in Maryland and Virginia. The IEN is convening and facilitating the public involvement component of the BBCAC consensus building effort to improve economic efficiency of the blue crab fishery and develop a long-term bay-wide strategy to ensure sustainability of the resource. The effort involves technical work groups composed of scientists and fisheries managers, and outreach to citizens and stakeholders such as watermen, crab processors, and others involved in the crab fishery. IEN is working with the both the Maryland and Virginia Sea Grant programs in its facilitation, outreach, and reporting efforts.
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Hydropower Dam Recertification Mediation (1999 - ongoing)
The IEN is assisting in the relicensing process of two dams owned by North Carolina Power on the Roanoke River which flows through Virginia and North Carolina. It has developed ground rules for the conduct of the alternative environmental assessment process that is authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) . This process will serve as a model for the relicensing of other dams.
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Innovative Integrated Land Use and Transportation Planning (1999 - ongoing)
The IEN is assisting a two-year transportation project for the greater Charlottesville areas, with a focus on the eastern portion to Zion's Crossroads. The project is led by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, which received a two-year Transportation, Community, and System Preservation grant to develop a regional integrated land use and transportation plan for the counties of Greene, Fluvanna, Louisa, Albemarle and the City of Charlottesville. The project is unusual in that it will attempt modeling and visioning not for the typical 20 years, but for the next 50 years. IEN's role is assisting in the development of computerized model for public use and feedback. The project will result in a regional plan that will serve to guide county and city land use and transportation decisions.
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National Environmental Information Exchange Network (ongoing)
Each year, EPA awards grants totaling $25 million to states and tribes to support environmental databases thatare shared and available to regulatory agencies and other interested parties. IEN facilitates negotiations that span several days that allocate these funds.
Website: www.epa.gov/exchangenetwork/grants
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National Pilot Brownfields Redevelopment (1999 - ongoing)
The EPA awarded to the IEN and the Harrisonburg Community Mediation Center (CMC) one of nine national pilot contracts to assist the Town of Shenandoah, Virginia in redeveloping their Big Gem site, a brownfield site located in the center of town. Two major steps are now underway to redevelop the site. An environmental assessment will investigate the history of the property and location of contaminants. At the same time, an effort to involve the community in "visioning" and planning for the development of Big Gem is being co-facilitated by the IEN and the CMC. Training in conflict resolution and consensus building is also being conducted and will serve as a national model for brownfields redevelopment.
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Nature Pyramid
(ongoing)
Resilient communities offer multiple opportunities for children to be in nature, for both education and play. Inspired by Richard Louv's book "The Last Child in the Woods," IEN Senior Associate Tanya Denckla Cobb created the Nature Pyramid in May 2007. Like the "Food Pyramid," the Nature Pyramid depicts the kinds of activities that are important for human health, and indicates desired proportions of these different activities. Since Denckla Cobb developed this concept, the Nature Pyramid has been incorporated into an environmental education curriculum, and has been presented to various audiences. It is a concept in progress. She welcomes your feedback! Click here to see Denckla Cobb's "Nature Pyramid."
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Revitalizing Money Point on the Elizabeth River
(ongoing)
The Elizabeth River Project, a community-based collaborative group, has been working with local, state, and federal agencies since 1996 to enlist community partners in voluntary action to address contamination in the offshore sediments at Money Point and to prevent re-contamination from uplands. Money Point is a local term for an approximately 330-acre bend on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River near Norfolk, Virginia, with multiple contaminated sites. The Institute for Environmental Negotiation, with the assistance of the Community Mediation Center of Southeastern Virginia, will be working with the Elizabeth River Project, industrial landowners, residents, the City of Chesapeake, state and federal interests, civic groups and others in setting a vision and goals for the environmental restoration and sustainable redevelopment of Money Point. This effort is intended to address offshore contamination and any potential sources of re-contamination from the uplands. The planning process will identify community priorities for restoring and conserving green space; for reducing risks to human health, as well as risks to the environment, recreation and economic prosperity; and for improving economic and ecological viability of Money Point through sustainable development practices.
Link to Money Point Revitalization effort
To read the Money Point Issues Assessment (PDF),
click here
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Rivanna Watershed Needs Assessment (ongoing)
The goal of the RWNA is to identify and assess opportunities, strategies, and mechanisms for improving the protection of the Rivanna Riverand its watershed. During Phase One, IEN conducted 22 confidential interviews with various state, local, and regional agencies, community groups, and non-profits that have been actively engaged in water resource management and protection in the Rivanna watershed. Phase Two consisted of convening the Rivanna Watershed Symposium on February 16, 2002 to discuss the results of Phase One and explore future collaborative scenarios. Following the Symposium, the Steering Committee met to finalize the recommendations from the Symposium into a workable plan. The final report for Phase One and the Steering Committee recommendations can be found below (right click and select "Save As..").
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Southeast Natural Resource Leadership Institute (SE-NRLI) (2003-present) (ongoing)
Based on the success of the VNRLI program, the Virginia partnership of IEN, Virginia Tech and Virginia Department of Forestry, has developed a new multistate program for Southeast. Funded in large part by the U.S. Forest Service, participation is open to 13 states and 1 territory that comprise the USFS southeastern region. The SE-NRLI program focuses on emerging regional issues and strategies for collaborative problem solving and conflict resolution. Anyone involved with regional environmental and land use issues in the southeast may apply – business, industry, state and federal government agencies, environmental organizations, and other non-governmental groups. For further information, contact IEN at
senrli@virginia.edu
Link to SE-NRLI homepage
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Strategic Planning and Facilitation for Nonprofits and Localities (ongoing) (ongoing)
IEN staff provide frequent assistance to environmental and civic nonprofits as well as to local governments. Strategic planning facilitation has been provided for numerous nonprofits. A few examples include the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Western Virginia Land Trust, the Virginia Conservation Network, the Virginia Water Monitoring Council, and Fluvanna County Chamber of Commerce. Facilitation of public meetings that are anticipated to be difficult is another form of assistance. A few examples include a Culpeper County meeting on the land application of biosolids, a series of community discussions in Fluvanna County about the siting of its new court hourse, a Goochland County meeting on the land application of biosolids, a Halifax County meeting about proposed setbacks for large-scale hog operations, and a series of meetings among Henrico County officials about how to improve the flow of development approvals.
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Strategy for Watershed Management Solutions (SWMS) (2005 - ongoing)
The IEN was hired by Loudoun County to convene and facilitate a multi-stakeholder group to develop a consensus strategy for its watershed management planning effort. Modeled closely on the Virginia Solutions process, the SWMS solutions team developed a Declaration of Cooperation that details recommendations for how Loudoun should go about developing its watershed plans.
http://www.loudoun.gov/b&d/watershed.htm
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Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI) (2000 - ongoing)
The Virginia Natural Resources Leadership institute (VNRLI) provides Virginia's leaders with skills to address complex environmental issues in a collaborative manner. Each class of leaders from Virginia’s industry, businesses, local and state government, and the environmental community works together in a year-long program that provides challenges in conflict resolution, personal leadership, and collaborative dialogue. VNRLI is a partnership with the University of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Forestry.A program designed to help Virginia's leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors learn how to resolve environmental conflicts started its first year-long program in September 2000. Founded in 1998, with its first full-year program in 2000, VNRLI is funded by a combination of tuition fees and grants. The year-long program consists of a series of six 3-day workshops in various locations across Virginia. The class curriculum involves three components: personal leadership, collaboative problem-solving, and key natural resources challenges in the state. Each session focuses on a different natural resources issue, including the Chesapeake Bay, water quality, land use, coal mining, forestry, sustainable agriculture, TMDLs, and more.
Link to VNRLI homepage
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Virginia Solutions (ongoing)
IEN initiated Virginia Solutions in Fall 2004, a state-wide initiative for community collaboration and consensus building. In 2005, funded by the Laura J. Musser Fund, two pilot VS projects were completed, one resulting in a Declaration of Cooperation for the establishment of a riparian easement program in Fauquier County. Virginia Solutions provides an easy, cost-effective mechanism for communities to develop community-based solutions to any given community issue. A neutral convener is formally appointed, a stakeholder Solutions Team is formed with the assistance of an experienced facilitation team, and the Team develops an integrated solution strategy that is embodied in a Declaration of Cooperation.
http://www.virginiasolutions.org/
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Watershed Management Plans for Fairfax County (2002 - present) (2002 - ongoing)
Working with different engineering firms, IEN facilitated the development of three watershed management plans for Fairfax County. These watershed plans provide an assessment of management and resource needs by defining problems within the watershed and prioritizing appropriate and workable solutions. The Institute developed the public involvement plan for the county and conducted a multi-stakeholder public involvement process for the three of the county's watersheds: Little Hunting Creek; Middle Potomac; and Cub and Bull Run. The process involves a standing steering committee for each watershed, focus groups, watershed academies and design workshops as well as educational materials and a web site. Please visit the Little Hunting Creek
project website to learn more.
Farifax County Watershed Planning Website
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