Brad Spangler's blog

The next issue of ACResolution will focus on the theme of the varied professional and educational backgrounds and experience that mediators and other conflict resolvers bring to the field, and how those differences impact people’s practice.  The editor is seeking:

• articles by several practitioners who came to mediation from another profession (e.g. lawyers, psychologists, teachers, etc.) reflecting on how their previous work affects their conflict work.; 
• an article about the increasing number of people in the field whose education and experience is exclusively in conflict resolution; and
• a survey of whatever academic work has been published on these topics.

If you are interested in writing an article for the newsletter, please contact Bill Stempel as soon as possible.  Articles themselves will be due in mid-December.

The EPP Leadership Council and Conference Planning Committee are extremely excited to report that Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies at MIT, will be our opening plenary speaker at the upcoming Section conference in Portland. A long-time respected voice in the EPP community, Larry will argue that the field we have known has run its course - that it's time for a new generation to lead the way into the future. During this interactive plenary session, conference participants will have an opportunity to exchange views about the change unfolding around today's EPP practitioners and what it demands of us. This promises be a provocative and fascinating session!

Click here for conference program and registration information.

The EPP Leadership Council is very excited about this year's annual EPP conference slated for June 28-30, 2011 in Portland, Oregon. The Section is partnering with Portland State University and the National Policy Consensus Center to put on this year's conference, which promises to be highly stimulating and a lot of fun. With its many innovative sustainability initiatives and features, Portland will be a fantastic host city for this year's conference, entitled Seeking Sustainability through Collaborative Governance. Not to mention the city's beautiful parks and quirky landmarks. The 2011 Conference Call for Proposals came out today so please check it out and spread the word. Hope to see you in Portland this summer! 

The EPP Leadership Council is proud to announce Laura Sneeringer as the recipient of the inaugural Rob Williams Award for Emerging Environment and Public Policy Leaders. Laura is a Collaborative Services Specialist with SRA International’s Environmental and Organizational Solutions Group in Denver, Colorado. Congratulations, Laura!

The award was designed to provide a developing practitioner with a platform to build relationships with peers in the field and become involved with EPP, hopefully creating a future leader in the Section and Association. Laura clearly expressed her commitment to the EPP field, as well as an ability and energy to identify a professional challenge and take action to address it in a positive way that builds bridges and betters the field. This is the essence of the award’s intent, as it was established in honor of the late Rob Williams, who devoted an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm to enhancing the field and the professional development of its emerging practitioners. As the recipient of the 2010 Rob Williams Award for Emerging Environment and Public Policy Leaders, Laura will receive a:

Mediate.com recently posted a series of short videos presenting insights from leading practitioners about different aspects of ADR practice. Examples of videos most relevant to the EPP section include:

• Juliana Birkhoff explaining how her dissertation demonstrates mediation is
  in fact a field and that what is uniting among experienced mediators is
  the concept of power.
• Greg Bourne talking about being a more directive mediator in public policy
  and environmental disputes where the parties want to move forward as
  quickly as possible.
• Gail Bingham sharing her views on how up-and-coming mediators should
  start mediating from the very beginning, involving all the parties in an
  assessment or diagnosis of the dispute.
• Susan Carpenter sharing the concerns she has for the field of public
  policy mediation including training, use of concepts, and lack of
  sharing knowledge.

Click here to view the videos.

Thank you to Mediate.com for collecting and posting these thought-provoking videos.

The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution is currently accepting applications for two positions. The application deadline is April 19. Here are the details...

Program Associate or Senior Program Associate - Tucson, AZ

The U.S. Institute is seeking experienced individuals for the position of Program Associate or Senior Program Associate on the program staff. The successful applicant will join the staff in managing environmental conflict resolution (ECR) projects where contracted neutrals are the primary service providers.

The Environment and Public Policy Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution would like to announce the Rob Williams Award for Emerging Environment and Public Policy Leaders. This award was established in recognition of the late Rob Williams’ commitment and contributions to the field of environmental and public policy dispute resolution and the professional development of its practitioners. The award will be presented this year to an emerging practitioner who demonstrates the promise to exercise the leadership exemplified by Rob.

Please click here for a full description of the award and application materials. Completed application materials are due by 5:00pm Eastern on Friday, March 26, 2010.

Rob Williams, 38, beloved son of Dr. David&Janet Williams, on Oct. 26, 2009 lost his long battle with bipolar depression which he had kept at bay so successfully for almost 20 years.

Born October 7, 1971 in Nashville, Tennessee, Rob moved to California with his parents when he as 9 months old and always considered himself a native.  He attended Laguna Blanca, Santa Barbara, The Thacher School in Ojai and Wesleyan University, Conn., where he received a B.A. with Honors in the College of Social Studies, a selective program combining history, philosophy, government and economics.

Please Save the Date of May 24, 2010 for the EPP Section Conference in Tucson.

Stay tuned to the EPP website for further information on the section conference. The Section is pleased to offer the EPP conference in cooperation with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. Please check out the website for the USIECR Conference, which will be held May 25-27, 2010 at the same location.

The 2009 ACR EPP Section Election results are in! Congratulations to the new members of the Section Leadership Council:

• John C. Jostes, Section Co-Chair, 2009-2011
• Suzanne Schwartz, At-Large Seat, 2009-2011
• Kevin Bryan, At-Large Seat, 2009-2011
• Turner Odell, At-Large Seat, 2009-2011
• Jennifer Peyser, At-Large Seat, 2009-2010