Process Services

Collaborative Problem Solving
Strategic Planning
Public Meetings & Workshops
Community Dialogues
Issue Scoping & Situation Assessment
Collaborative Planning
Conferences

How We Can Assist You
IEN works with you to identify your goals, develop the best ways of achieving those goals and stay within your budget and timeframe. We are recognized for the high level of satisfaction and service provided to our clients.

Different processes are used to accomplish different purposes. To inform or take the pulse of your public, and enhanced public meeting may be appropriate. To identify a range of options, an enhanced workshop may be the right approach. The develop goals, objectives and actions, a strategic planning effort could be helpful. To formulate specific recommendations, we will help you select from a menu of collaborative problem-solving processes.

IEN also offers support to you at the level you desire. We can provide "turn-key" services - covering the process design, logistics, facilitation, and final reporting. Or we can facilitate an event that you will organize on your own. If you have a fixed budget, we work to find creative solutions to accomplish your goals with your budget.

Working with IEN means you benefit from experience, knowledge, and integrity. We keep our promises and are accomplished in the art of the possible. Call us: we would be privileged to hear from you!

Collaborative Problem Solving

IEN facilitates multi-stakeholder groups to develop consensus for issues such as water quality or food security. A number of formats are available, such as policy roundtables, "Virginia Solutions," advisory citizen task forces, and steering committees. Collaborative problem solving builds understanding, respect, and trust; seeks mutual gains; develops shared decision-making; and builds commitment to implementation.

Example of Community Consensus Building:
o New courts facility siting: Charlottesville-Albemarle, VA

Example of Community Mediation:
o Culpeper, VA rural neighborhood
o Community water supply in Court receivership for seven years
o 4-month process of facilitated open community meetings, small group discussions, and telephone calls
o Agreement developed, approved by Court, and implemented

Examples of Consensus Building:
o Bryan Park Interchange Advisory Committee
o Fairfax County, VA Watershed

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Strategic Planning

IEN will work with your organization to design a process for developing a vision, mission, goals, objectives, and even a complete action plan to meet the needs of your community and organization.

Examples of Strategic Planning:
o Waste Solutions Forum
o Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
o Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority
o Seaside Managment Strategy
o Virginia Association of Professional Soil Scientists

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Public Meetings and Workshops

A range of options are available for designing successful public meetings and workshops. IEN can identify citizen concerns prior to meetings in order to help with meeting design and as part of the meeting. IEN can identify information and education that should be provided during the meeting, as well as design a process for generating ideas and solutions for specific issues and problems. IEN makes use of a wide range of tools for enhancing public meetings, such as shared meeting planning, small group discussion, surveys before and/or during the meeting, facilitation of questions and discussion, and strategic planning.

Examples of Public Meetings and Workshops:
o Biosolid regulations & land applications (Culpeper, Isle of Wight & Campbell Counties)
o Rappahanock-Rapidan Regional Vision
o Nelson County, VA Watershed Forum
o Shenandoah “Big Gem” brownfields site redevelopment

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Community Dialogues

IEN can bring communities together to discuss issues of importance, build understanding, repair harm, heal rifts, and identify common ground.

Examples of Community Dialogue:
o Tobacco Project
o Fluvanna County, VA Public Conversations regarding Siting of Circuit Court

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Issue Scoping and Situation Assessment

IEN will identify what's at stake for the parties in a complex issue and assess the readiness of parties to come to the table. At the same, we will explore the parameters for a successful meeting, such as information needs of the parties, possible ground rules, logistical issues, and funding.

Examples of Issue Scoping:
o Menhaden
o Chip Mill Assessment

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Collaborative Planning

Examples of Collaborative Planning:
o Crozet Master Planning
o Shenandoah Brownfield
o Shenandoah Forum

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Conferences

IEN can design, coordinate, and facilitate large multi-stakeholder conferences to achieve a variety of purposes. We can offer turn-key conference management or handle just the part of the conference that you need help with. We will design a process specifically for your goals, drawing on a variety of innovative tools such as Open Space Technology, Future Search, strategic planning, dialogue, appreciative inquiry, and others.

Examples:
o Food Security Summit (2007)
o Governor's Natural Resource Leadership Summits (2004, 2006)
o National Dialogue (2006)
o Community Based Collaboratives Research Consortium (2005)
o Land Conservation Conference (2001)

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