So I have been given a little exercise to try out over the next few days; I need to construct an 'ideal' hypothetical case for applying patterns and systems thinking. It needs to emphasize community level problem solving and environmental sustainability.
Issues of interest are: land rights, community energy solutions (wind, bio, hydro, solar, methane farming) community forestry, marketing and protection of non-timber forest resources (such as dyes, resins, fungi and other ethnobotanicals used as medicines, nutrition and so forth). Perhaps, all in one.
Along with these issues, I'm looking for cases that exemplify community attempts at autonomous decision making, planning, implementation within the context of globalizing world and external pressures from government, business, oppositional civil society, etc.
The case also needs some transnational linkages (i.e. NGOs, MNCs, etc.), yet this can be several degrees removed. Various levels of information literacy and communicative capacity are also needed.
Once this idealized situation (or situations) is developed, a few of us are going to begin the tedious task of looking for potential candidates for empirical study.
Showing posts with label Environmental Conflict Resolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environmental Conflict Resolution. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
To do List:
Feeling a bit overwhelmed so I figured I put up a to-do list:
Immediate -
1. Finish ICLS proposal (Today!)
2. Revise Original proposal between the Public Sphere, CTLT and the LKL
3. Finish Stats Exam - Do the research and run tests.
4. Write Paper #2 on Duwamish River Clean-up.
5. Keep Working on inserting content for Decon-Hotz
Next:
6. Keep Working on ePortfolio.
7. Create Subsite for Interactive Class Project (Technology for Conflict Negotiation)
8. Finalize and upload content for JESA site.
9. Begin Designing CMS for JESA (Plone, Drupal or Django)
10. Fix the new Public Sphere Project home-page.
11. Write Proposal for "Designing for the 21st Century: Using Web 2.0 Technologies (and Social Networking Tools) for Social Action."
12. Get ready for "Visual Reasoning Work-Shop", my topic is visualizing patterns for problem-solving.
Ongoing:
13. Keep up with my Django education.
14. Continue Design Scheme for Plone-Based CMS written on top of Django.
15. Concept Mapping and Document Centered Chat app with Django/Ajax.
Ouch, this list actually makes it sound worse!
Immediate -
1. Finish ICLS proposal (Today!)
2. Revise Original proposal between the Public Sphere, CTLT and the LKL
3. Finish Stats Exam - Do the research and run tests.
4. Write Paper #2 on Duwamish River Clean-up.
5. Keep Working on inserting content for Decon-Hotz
Next:
6. Keep Working on ePortfolio.
7. Create Subsite for Interactive Class Project (Technology for Conflict Negotiation)
8. Finalize and upload content for JESA site.
9. Begin Designing CMS for JESA (Plone, Drupal or Django)
10. Fix the new Public Sphere Project home-page.
11. Write Proposal for "Designing for the 21st Century: Using Web 2.0 Technologies (and Social Networking Tools) for Social Action."
12. Get ready for "Visual Reasoning Work-Shop", my topic is visualizing patterns for problem-solving.
Ongoing:
13. Keep up with my Django education.
14. Continue Design Scheme for Plone-Based CMS written on top of Django.
15. Concept Mapping and Document Centered Chat app with Django/Ajax.
Ouch, this list actually makes it sound worse!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Another Journal Entry
As I may have said in the last journal entry I'm tending to fall behind in this writing. I guess it is because like so many of us these days I'm attempting to juggle many different hats all at once. Plus, I feel as if the journal entries take away a bit from my ability to keep up with my patterns.
Anyway, in considering what to write about for this journal entry I began to think about how the local emphasis in this class over the more global or international context of environmental conflict has been an interesting element. I have been so focused upon the international element of sustainable development that it can be easy to forget or ignore the richness of the actually place in which you live. In many ways, I think this whole shift from political science to environmental science has facilitated this more localized perception on my part.
In many ways I think this is related to the ability to walk out my door and see nature, the environment and the built structures of society co-mingling together and it gives me a concrete vision, something that I can comprehend in the here and now. Ultimately, I think there is something spiritually invigorating about that. The shift in focus is grounding me.
Plus, I have been asked to choose a topic of study for the Conflict class that addresses a specific environmental issue and it is my job to highlight the conflict and process of mitigating the conflict along with the environmental issue at the core of the conflict.
So the easiest thing and yet something very important to me is the need to address the process of conflict negotiation surrounding the Duwamish River clean up in the south Seattle area. In fact, one of the first classes that motivated me towards this environmental path was a course in Puget Sound Ecology and we even spent a lot of time focusing on the issue of the Duwamish. In fact, I think this was the same year it was designated as a Superfund site.
Anyway, most of the focus I took was on the science of course and address those scientific concerns, where as this class wants me to address the human dynamic surrounding the science, so it is presenting a differing perspective worth analysis.
Anyway, in considering what to write about for this journal entry I began to think about how the local emphasis in this class over the more global or international context of environmental conflict has been an interesting element. I have been so focused upon the international element of sustainable development that it can be easy to forget or ignore the richness of the actually place in which you live. In many ways, I think this whole shift from political science to environmental science has facilitated this more localized perception on my part.
In many ways I think this is related to the ability to walk out my door and see nature, the environment and the built structures of society co-mingling together and it gives me a concrete vision, something that I can comprehend in the here and now. Ultimately, I think there is something spiritually invigorating about that. The shift in focus is grounding me.
Plus, I have been asked to choose a topic of study for the Conflict class that addresses a specific environmental issue and it is my job to highlight the conflict and process of mitigating the conflict along with the environmental issue at the core of the conflict.
So the easiest thing and yet something very important to me is the need to address the process of conflict negotiation surrounding the Duwamish River clean up in the south Seattle area. In fact, one of the first classes that motivated me towards this environmental path was a course in Puget Sound Ecology and we even spent a lot of time focusing on the issue of the Duwamish. In fact, I think this was the same year it was designated as a Superfund site.
Anyway, most of the focus I took was on the science of course and address those scientific concerns, where as this class wants me to address the human dynamic surrounding the science, so it is presenting a differing perspective worth analysis.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Journal for ES/RP 535
So along with presenting my thinking on patterns this blog is also going to serve as a journal for my classes. I have been asked to keep a journal for at least one of my classes which means that I will have to make at least 2 "lengthy" posts a week regarding the readings and experiences of the in class simulations. Which, I don't think will be to hard.
Anyway, the class is Environmental Conflict Resolution, which appears to be a very hands-on class that attempts to bridge course readings with in class simulations where students take on the characters of various parties within a particular environmental conflict. While so far we have only to set the stage for our first simulation I have had an opportunity to begin digging into the readings for the course.
Immediately, I was struck by the parallels between some of the literature and the work already present within the Liberating Voices! project. For instance, one of the initial readings assigned was by Lee Bolman and Terrance Deal titled “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership,” that addressed the various frames used in Conflict Negotiation. The basic frames they highlight are the Structural Frame, the Human Resource Frame, the Political Frame and the Symbolic Frame. All of these have their own purpose at a given time that help accentuate the others, in a sense empower the others when crossroads in negotiation out live the usefulness of a particular frame. That is not to say that frames don’t come in and out of the picture over time, but their basic illustration seemed to mimic a pattern based approach that recognizes the inherent dynamic complexity of conflict negotiation.
After contemplating the reading I could see how these various elements could be used to serve as elemental patterns to enable the functioning of an already existing pattern, Multi-party Negotiation for Conflict Resolution recorded by Helena Meyer-Knapp and Stewart Dutfield.
Just as interesting though is the examples used in the pattern description which parallel one of the other readings provided in class that was essentially an excerpt from "Getting to Yes." In a way it shows how the various people associated with the pattern project have come together in ways to identifying missing links in the system to help continually refine and adapt the repository. It also shows how useful ideas make their way into the minds of people and represent an impact that equates into their adoption into a system that is meant to be a record of social heuristics, in this case the heuristic is for conflict resolution.
Likewise, delving into these readings also highlights areas where pattern participants could either begin to further refine these conflict centric patterns or even use this Multi-party negotiation pattern to aide in defining a set of sub-patterns directly related to the practice of negotiation and conflict resolution.
Anyway, the class is Environmental Conflict Resolution, which appears to be a very hands-on class that attempts to bridge course readings with in class simulations where students take on the characters of various parties within a particular environmental conflict. While so far we have only to set the stage for our first simulation I have had an opportunity to begin digging into the readings for the course.
Immediately, I was struck by the parallels between some of the literature and the work already present within the Liberating Voices! project. For instance, one of the initial readings assigned was by Lee Bolman and Terrance Deal titled “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership,” that addressed the various frames used in Conflict Negotiation. The basic frames they highlight are the Structural Frame, the Human Resource Frame, the Political Frame and the Symbolic Frame. All of these have their own purpose at a given time that help accentuate the others, in a sense empower the others when crossroads in negotiation out live the usefulness of a particular frame. That is not to say that frames don’t come in and out of the picture over time, but their basic illustration seemed to mimic a pattern based approach that recognizes the inherent dynamic complexity of conflict negotiation.
After contemplating the reading I could see how these various elements could be used to serve as elemental patterns to enable the functioning of an already existing pattern, Multi-party Negotiation for Conflict Resolution recorded by Helena Meyer-Knapp and Stewart Dutfield.
Just as interesting though is the examples used in the pattern description which parallel one of the other readings provided in class that was essentially an excerpt from "Getting to Yes." In a way it shows how the various people associated with the pattern project have come together in ways to identifying missing links in the system to help continually refine and adapt the repository. It also shows how useful ideas make their way into the minds of people and represent an impact that equates into their adoption into a system that is meant to be a record of social heuristics, in this case the heuristic is for conflict resolution.
Likewise, delving into these readings also highlights areas where pattern participants could either begin to further refine these conflict centric patterns or even use this Multi-party negotiation pattern to aide in defining a set of sub-patterns directly related to the practice of negotiation and conflict resolution.
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