Institute Program Description and General Information

The Natural Resources Leadership Institute is a multi-faceted instructional and community service program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension at North Carolina State University.

The Natural Resources Leadership Institute
North Carolina is facing tremendous growth and development pressures in some of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the state. Resource extraction, urban and industrial development, and agricultural production can result in diminished resource and environmental quality. These increasing pressures place a premium on natural resource management. Yet, management of our natural resources is plagued with controversy. Increasingly, disputes arise over such issues as endangered species; private property rights; forest, nutrient, and wetland management; industrial recruitment; air and water quality; and recently, floodplain management. We believe that people involved in these disputes can reach mutually acceptable solutions by communicating in a more meaningful and effective way, opening the dialogue to include all stakeholders, and negotiating to settle disagreements. However, this will involve unprecedented cooperation from a cadre of strongly committed leaders representing many interests. To settle disputes and reach collaborative solutions to tough environmental issues, leaders must be able to access a network of diverse interests, possess the skills to effectively negotiate for mutually beneficial scientific, technical and social solutions, and work to implement those solutions.

Leadership development is the cornerstone in a larger effort to improve environmental decision-making in North Carolina by expanding our capacity to resolve problems effectively and collaboratively.Building on this foundation, we see the need to teach citizens across the state the fundamentals of collaborative problem solving and participatory decision-making. In situations where people disagree on how natural resources should be used, conserved, and protected, citizens and communities often need support in the form of third-party intervention to help them reach collaborative solutions. We also believe that North Carolinians can take a more proactive approach to collaborative problem solving by coming together to discuss important issues before a dispute arises. Local, regional, and statewide problem-solving forums organized around emerging issues can enable people to engage in meaningful discussion and move to collaborative solutions.

Objectives
The goal of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute is to improve the management of natural resources in North Carolina and to enhance rural economic development while improving environmental quality. We are working toward this goal by :

• Improving leadership in natural resource management and policy development;
• Bringing people together in action-oriented forums to identify and resolve issues;
• Providing training to government, industry and nonprofit organizations in dispute resolution; and
• Expanding the capacity of public issue facilitation and mediation services in North Carolina.
• Developing and publishing case studies on successful models for participatory decision making and collaborative efforts to assist researchers and other conflict resolution educators.

Methods

The Institute’s Leadership Development Program bring together people from the public and private sectors and representatives of environmental activist groups in an atmosphere conducive to the exploration of controversial issues and the learning of leadership competencies required to resolve the issues and develop mutually satisfactory management policies. Our ultimate goal is to foster the development of mutually satisfactory environmental policies.

Through the Environmental Decision-Making program, we provide policy negotiation, facilitation and mediation services to manage conflict over environmental issues and aid collaborative decision-making. The Institute supports these processes by designing, facilitating, and mediating stakeholder processes around the state. We also convene policy and problem-solving forums around important environmental issues.

Through the Needs-Based Training component of both programs, we provide specialized training courses around leadership development, environmental conflict resolution, public involvement and participatory decision making, and similar topics aimed toward agencies, boards and commissions, nonprofit organizations, firms, and interested citizens.

Accomplishments

The success of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute has increased the capacity for collaborative problem solving in North Carolina. Institute staff and leadership program participants have organized problem-solving forums, brought disputants to the negotiating table, and educated others about collaborative approaches to solving public disputes.

Our first leadership class began in January 1995. Each year since the, 25-30 leaders from around the state have completed the 18-month program.

Through our program on Environmental Decision-Making, we have assisted committees, commissions, and stakeholder groups to develop policy recommendations on a variety of public issues. Since 1996 we have provided assistance to dozens of stakeholder grouups, helping them develop collaborative solutions to contentious local and statewide environmental policy issues.

NRLI Mission Statement

The mission of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute is to educate and support a diverse group of North Carolinians  who are committed to seeking consensus on issues affecting the sustainable development of North Carolina's natural resources and the quality of our environment.

NRLI Vision Statement

The vision of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute is to build the capacity for North Carolinians to effectively problem-solve and make decisions affecting our natural resources and environment through collaboration and consensus. To attain this vision, we will build a network of leaders who:

• Are natural resource professionals from the public and private sectors including landowners, local government officials, educators, and members of   environmental, conservation and community organizations.
• Represent North Carolina's diversity in terms of affiliation, place, race, gender, experience, income and age
• Appreciate and take into account the biological, economic, social, and political implications of natural resource management decisions in seeking policy changes.
• Respect the rights and opinions of individuals with different values
• Cooperate with other people and organizations who have a stake in how North Carolina's natural resources are managed by seeking solutions to controversial natural resource issues.

We will also design, manage and facilitate collaborative decision-making processes that are:

• Purpose-driven
• Inclusive
• Educational
• Self-designed
• Flexible Egalitarian
• Respectful
• Accountable
• Time-limited
• Achievable