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UMD, USMx, UMCES: Stakeholder Collaboration: Organizing for Environmental Justice and Equitable Solutions

Co-produce outcomes on your environmental projects by effectively engaging and motivating diverse communities to work towards a shared vision founded in environmental goals.

5 weeks
3–5 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

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Starts Mar 28
Ends Dec 31

About this course

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This course is a collaboration between the University of Maryland College Park’s Project Management Center for Excellence and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. While each course stands alone, the series works together to provide the knowledge, skills, and frameworks to lead projects that address Socio-Environmental problems.

In this course, we are building from the point of having successfully completed Stakeholder Outreach. This means that the major complex problem has been identified, measured, and distilled into a powerful narrative that can engage stakeholders to drive them to the next step: Stakeholder Collaboration.

To get started, we need to orient towards "why" we need to collaborate after collaboration. The answer? Problem complexity. Tackling complexity is a task no one person can do by its definition. Truly complex and wicked problems have no stopping point, no clarity of definition, and change as you try to improve the current state so you must reassess. Complex issues are also defined by a lack of complete information in any one party. The issues involve many standpoints, perspectives, and details partitioned among those involved. That’s why it’s “complex.” To solve this we need to tackle the problem which is termed “requisite variety,” a term coined by David Benjamin and David Komlos in their book “Cracking Complexity,” which is to say we need all the diverse representatives from those parts of the complex problem to bring their unique knowledge and perspective together.

In science when we do this it’s called “Transdisciplinary Approaches.” In Project Management we call this “cross-disciplinary” and “cross-organizational” problem solving. But what’s unique about Environmental Project Management is the often added problem of no organization existing among the rights holders that are impacted by the problems. So the added job of rallying and organizing these groups is added to the list of challenges for the Environmental Project Leader. Then the work of getting a first view of the complex problem can truly begin.

At a glance

What you'll learn

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  • Evaluate various types of problems and identify appropriate solution approaches.
  • Synthesize methods of planning, implementing, and evaluating transdisciplinary approaches
  • Identify the four different frameworks for adaptive governance.
  • Differentiate the differences between “Serving” vs “Facilitating”, and analyze how Agile is designed for Continuous Improvement with its PDCA cycle.
  • Identify how to “Frame Purpose” and “Set a Direction” for your Project and Team.
  • Recognize ways to avoid “Information Hoarding” and “Obscuring Progress” through the use of weekly stand-ups and assigning due dates within Sprints.
  • Question how to design an environment that encourages “play”, which ultimately leads to increased optimism, happiness, productivity, and willingness to take on challenges!
  • Classify the different levels of motivation and the tools that will help improve mastery amongst your team members.
  • Identify the 7 important questions when analyzing stakeholders.
  • Complete an ABT Framework in your notes for reference.
  • Define the CCARI Framework as it relates to the narrative continuum.
  • Recognize the importance of SEAVA and how to implement it within your own team.
  • Discuss the different conflict modes within the Thomas Killmann model and distinguish what situations they are best used for.
  • Classify the different techniques to use when negotiating, such as tactical empathy, mirroring, and leveraging “No”.
  • Implement the different Thomas Kilmann's Conflict Modes while negotiating.

MODULE 1: COLLABORATING TO SOLVE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS WITH A TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

  1. Why Stakeholder Engagement?

  2. Classifying Problems

  3. Socio-Environmental Systems

  4. Transdisciplinary Approaches

  5. Planning and Implementing

  6. Adaptive Governance

Adaptive governance

MODULE 2: MANAGING AND LEADING A TEAM TOWARDS A SHARED VISION

  1. Agile Leader's Process

  2. Framing Purpose

  3. Adapting to Agile

  4. Power of Play

  5. Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose

MODULE 3: TOOLS FOR ENGAGEMENT

  1. Enabling Conditions

  2. Stakeholder Analysis

  3. Collaborative Learning

  4. Workshop Planning

  5. Facilitation and Engagement

  6. Casual Loop Diagrams

  7. Social Network Analysis

  8. Finding Stories that Resonate

MODULE 4: MANAGING CONFLICT

  1. Emotional Intelligence

  2. Cultural Intelligence

  3. Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)

  4. CMM Tools

  5. Dynamic Problem Solving

  6. Negotiation Field Guides

  7. Advanced Negotiation Techniques

MODULE 5: MOVING TO ACTION WITH RISK MANAGEMENT EVALUATION AND MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS

  1. Basics of Risk Management

  2. Telling Risk Management Stories

  3. Evaluating Transdisciplinary Research

  4. Theory of Change

  5. Adaptive Governance

  6. Examples of Great Champions

This course is part of Environmental Project Management: Co-Creating Sustainable Solutions Professional Certificate Program

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Expert instruction
3 skill-building courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
4 months
3 - 5 hours per week

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