Search Results - A Toolbox of Resources - National Forest Foundation

April 2, 2021

"Maintaining the Foundation of Collaborative Groups", USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre, April 2019

Are participants losing interest in your collaborative effort? Has the purpose of your collaboration become unclear? Is your collaborative no longer making sufficient progress? Does your collaborative lack a sense of accomplishment? Has their been an increase in dissent among participants? Is collaboration just not fun anymore? If you answered, "Yes" to any of these questions then you should have a look at this document from the USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre.

April 2, 2021

"Building a Solid Foundation for Collaborative Efforts", USDA National Collaboration Cadre, July 2019

Whether building, evaluating, or rebuilding a collaborative effort, all require thoughtful consideration to what people will accomplish and how they will do it. This document guides collaboratives through the process of constructing or reconstructing a solid foundation for collaboration based on the collaborative's purposes, people, process, and products.

April 2, 2021

"Collaboration as a Pursuit of Progress", USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre, January 2021

How can you tell if a collaborative effort is working? People often ask if a collaboration has succeeded, but perhaps it is better to ask what progress is being made by a collaborative. From there, progress can be broken down into progress on substance, processes, and relationships.

April 2, 2021

"Interest-Based Problem Solving", USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre, January 2021

When the parties in a natural resource collaboration focus on their positions and overlook their interests the entire collaborative process may slow or shut down. Searching for common ground can seem impossible when people take extreme and mutually exclusive positions. Moving from positions to interests provides the seedbed for innovative ideas that move land management forward in creative ways that sometimes none of the participants had foreseen.

April 2, 2021

"Aligning Expectations for Effective Collaborative Work", USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre, January, 2021

In both professional and personal situations, people develop expectations about their interactions with others. Whether creating a business partnership, joining a civic organization, or getting married, people anticipate and expect certain behaviors and outcomes. Multi-party collaborative efforts involving public lands management is no different. Finding ways to develop, communicate, and maintain alignment of the participants' expectations in collaborative efforts is critical to a collaborative group's vitality and effectiveness.

March 23, 2021

"Understanding Collaboration", USDA Forest Service National Collaboration Cadre, January 2021.

Collaboration supplements traditional public participation with more focused activities that will typically allow more meaningful contributions. Collaboration requires considerable time and effort for everyone and should be undertaken when the collaborative potential is high. Collaboration can build and maintain productive working relationships and trust and capacity, both internally and externally, well beyond the immediate issue or situation.