Skip to content

An Exercise in Environmental Collaborative Planning

Mike George (University of Nebraska)

May 2011

Summary:

For this simulation students break into groups and work collaboratively to develop a site restoration development plan for the property.  Each student is assigned a role to play as a specific stakeholder with specific interests they are to “protect” through the process.  It provides students with the experience of working in a contentious, collaborative environment—similar to “real world” collaborative efforts—to develop a site development plan.  Students must reach agreement on and apply technical standards while reaching a policy consensus.  After completing the simulation, students will appreciate the difficulty of getting to a decision in a collaborative environment and discover what techniques work to achieve a sustainable decision.