Collaborative Decision-Making & Public Involvement Processes

The Resource Dimensions’ team has been at the national and international forefront of those fields as ecological economics and human dimensions of resource use and management that have long advocated and advanced the integration of qualitative and qualitative methods at the community and landscape level. To do so effectively requires expertise in the development and implementation of collaborative decision-making and public involvement processes, combined with the analytical skills necessary to distill accurate and unbiased information from qualitative text-based data emanating from such processes.

Our collective of social scientists have decades of experience in developing diverse successful collaborative public involvement programs critical to larger project processes to successfully identify needs, develop alternatives, and establish consensus over policy and program solutions within the community planning, land use, environmental and resource management framework.

Our public involvement and outreach programs have been wide ranging and have included all facets of participation as well as the development and improvement of models for enhancing public involvement within ethnically and economically diverse communities. We have conducted well over 200 projects that have included the use of one or more public involvement process, such as public meetings, interviews, focus groups, community-based outreach programs, citizen juries and Delphi techniques, and various survey processes used in attitudinal, behavioral, and economic analyses. Such projects typically incorporate use of media channels as radio and television, development of web-based surveys and project-based web pages, newsletters, flyers, mailings and display development.

Some of our recent projects

Highland Community Resources Planning Tool-kit Project
Collaborative Evaluation of Public Preferences for Public Sector Services
For the Highland Regional Council and the Wellbeing Alliance, Resource Dimensions developed the collaborative public involvement strategy to aid in determining public preferences for publicly provided services in Scotland’s Highland region. The multi-method process incorporated the use of focus groups, working groups, and stakeholder and expert interviews, and discrete choice experiments to derive distinct value sets, for particular user groups (e.g. health services, sports and leisure, older persons services, and mental health services) relative to the provision of public services. The goal of the project was to develop a methodology for integrating the general public’s views and values into the budget allocation process for public services through investigation of willingness-to-pay attributes for incremental changes in levels of service provision.

Collaborative Sustainability
Sustainable Pierce County Project
In collaboration with Pierce County, Friends of Pierce County, and communities countywide, Resource Dimensions has led development and strategic planning stages, development and funding initiatives for the multi-phased project since late 2004. The project is a first for Washington state in that the planning, policy development and resource tool-kit for use by communities is driven by a multi-year countywide collaborative. The project takes a comprehensive approach to actively engage all with a stake in the future of Pierce County’s diverse communities. Steps will include the use of technical advisory groups, work groups, and GIS-based asset/issue mapping, to develop a cross-sectional survey, and specific community-based decision-support tools. The objective is to provide communities with an interactive resource set to assist them in evaluating and making land use, social policy and economic development decisions that will help Pierce County’s communities move together toward sustainability by encouraging the creation of equitable, environmentally and economically healthy places for people –for today and for the future. October 2004 through June 2008.

Incorporating Public Perceptions into the Comprehensive Planning Process:
Domestic Energy Use and Energy Efficiency
For the Scottish Executive, Resource Dimensions’ Ariel Bergmann developed and conducted both a series of focus groups and a contingent valuation survey to quantify public knowledge of domestic energy use and current energy efficiency measures. The third-phase of the project included the use of a choice ranking experiment to evaluate program policies aimed at behavior modification to promote conservation of domestic energy. The final stages of plan development are in process with implementation scheduled to begin in early 2005.

Multi-method Public Outreach and Involvement Plan: SR 28 Eastside Corridor EIS
For the Federal Highway Administration and WSDOT, Resource Dimensions developed a bilingual supplemental community outreach plan to enhance public involvement and address needs/concerns of Title VI (minority and low-income populations) within the decision-making context. Dr. Gustanski led the Resource Dimensions team in this effort. Given the unique aspects that differentiate the Hispanic and Anglo communities within the study-area geography, a unique multi-method approach was required to bring forth the diversity required to accurately assess the nature of impacts on various populations within the study area in eastern Washington.

Collaborative Conflict Resolution
Rattlesnake Wilderness and National Recreation Area Project
Together with the American Public Land Exchange, Dr. Wright assisted in the collaborative process to mediate between goals of the Montana Power Company and Lolo National Forest following the passages of federal legislation that established these areas. Public involvement requirements were prescribed by NEPA. The process included the assemblage of several land exchange alternatives which were reviewed by the public and assessed for implementation. BLM coal lease bidding rights worth $14.3 million were traded for fee simple title to 21,027 acres of power company holdings to concluded the project and land transfer.

Public Involvement Plan – Snake River Salmon Recovery Board
For the Asotin County Conservation District and Snake River Salmon Recovery Board, Resource Dimensions served as the NAC/Resource Dimensions team’s quality control engineer. Public involvement planning expertise of Drs. Harris and Gustanski, aided in developing an integrated public involvement plan designed to bring together local and regional government units, state and county agencies, tribes, citizens, and interest groups involved in salmon protection policies on state projects.

Community-based Economic Development - Incorporating Public Preferences and Opinions into Community Redevelopment Planning
For the Edinburgh Regional Council, Dr. Gustanski developed a coordinated plan to integrate public, private and not-for-profit sectors in evaluating and developing a strategic economic redevelopment plan for the Chesser Neighborhood. The plan was a sub-component of the West Edinburgh Local Comprehensive Plan. The collaborative plan promotes small business development, job creation and incorporates the walkway/cycleway that runs through the neighborhood to link the Water of Leith and the former railway line to the east of Hutchison Crossway. Community-based meetings, design charettes, resident, business, and walkway/cycleway user interviews were used throughout the planning process.

Collaborative Assessment of Public Attitudes on
Environment and Land Use in the U.S. and Britain
Under a joint program supported by resource agencies and private conservation organizations in both the U.S. and U.K. Dr. Gustanski evaluated the nature and foundation of public attitudes towards land use and the potential for using particular policy measures in devising collaborative conservation strategies. Tools used include, key-informant and expert interviews, focus groups, and surveys conducted across both the US and UK.. Data derived was later used in the development of an integrated land conservation decision-support model.

Recreational Homes and Regional Rural Development
For the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Dr. Anderson led the project team in conducting the interdisciplinary analysis related to regional economy and development effects of recreational “2nd homes” in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. The project provides a baseline for better understanding local economies, their socio-political structure, and the context of the natural environment and regional development impacts. Focus groups and surveys were used across the study region.

Examination of Trust between Natural Resource Agencies and Local Communities
In coordination with the USDA Forest Service and NRCS, Dr. Mae Davenport, is working to develop a better understanding of the relationships between natural resource management agencies and local communities, in particular "gateway communities". In-depth interviews were conducted with community members and agency personnel. Surveys and data analysis for this project is ongoing. Findings will be used to help agency managers prioritize steps for improving community relationships.

Public Preferences for Underlying Attributes of Renewable Energy
In this project, Resource Dimensions’ Ariel Bergmann examined issues including evolution of institutions and the political economy to promote "clean" and "renewable" energy alternatives. Methods used included choice experiments to value the environmental attributes of energy projects and game theory model for “Green Certificate” trading in a regulated market.

Community Views on Affordable Housing and Conservation Mix
Resource Dimensions conducted focus groups and citizen juries within the larger feasibility study project context to evaluate community views, values and attitudes towards the development of a community land trust and the appropriate mix of affordable housing and conservation, New Mexico.

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP)
For this interagency project, Dr. Harris developed the community-based self-assessment tool for assessing rural resource-dependent communities. He also developed the relational model, coding scheme, conducted analysis, developed and mapped employment profiles for the 423 community economies examines, and co-produced the ICBEMP report. The analysis describes the economic conditions for individual communities and for groupings of communities by category. It also provides a basis for identifying types of communities that may be vulnerable to shifts in federal land uses. The goal of the project was the development of a regional strategy is to manage public lands in the Interior Columbia Basin to meet community needs for goods and services in an ecologically sustainable way.

Yellowstone National Park: Winter Use Assessment
For the US National Park Service. Dr. Davenport examined the nature of recreation experiences and perceptions of management change. Content analysis was used to examine meanings ascribed to recreational activities, experiences, and setting characteristics for the Park and factors shaping visitors’ attitudes toward management decisions. Developed interview guide, conducted interviews and qualitative content analysis, and prepared reports.

The Cost and Benefits of Training Our Troubled Teens for Leadership
Resource Dimensions conducted an integrated human capital and economic impact analysis of the Rising Stars leadership program developed by the Minnesota Juvenile Justice System. The Program is an intervention program developed to train troubled teens to become leaders in their communities. The collaborative program is a proactive and restorative program that involves public and private sector partnerships with schools across the metropolitan Twin cities area.

Public Views on County-based Farmland Protection Program
In Durham County, North Carolina, Resource Dimensions’ president has had long-standing involvement with a series of land preservation program efforts and development of the New Hope Creek Corridor project stemming to the mid-1980’s. Over this time we have been involved in a variety of analyses that have included a various public involvement strategies to evaluate the socio-economic trends, agricultural resources, local and regional economies, development patterns, willingness-to-pay/accept, and development of policy recommendations for county farmland preservation initiatives.