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Home WALLACE STEGNER CENTER EDR Environmental Dispute Resolution Collaboration Certificate Course

COLLABORATION CERTIFICATE COURSE

Every year, the EDR Program offers our flagship Collaboration Certificate Course (CCC). The 7-session online course teaches the “art and science” of collaborative problem-solving through lectures, case studies, peer-to-peer sharing, discussion, and simulation exercises. The course is specifically designed for and targeted toward mid- and upper-level professionals working on environmental, natural resource, and public policy issues.

Course participants acquire:

  • Awareness and skills to help them effectively harness the co-creative potential of conflict and participate in multi-party collaborative processes
  • Techniques that will help them identify opportunities for collaborative problem-solving, as well as skills for convening, facilitating, and sustaining collaborative efforts
  • Experience assessing and designing a collaboration effort relevant to the participant’s own work, with the mentorship and guidance of instructors and peer-to-peer support

Upon completing the course, participants receive a certificate issued by the EDR Program. They also have the opportunity to join the EDR Program’s Collaborative Leadership Network, which provides opportunities for continued education, coaching, and peer-to-peer support.

The next Collaboration Certificate Course takes place September 15, 2022 - March 2, 2023; session dates and topics are listed in the table below. Applications are due April 19, 2022.

APPLY HERE
For additional information, see the course flyer or contact emily.crockett@law.utah.edu.

Session Dates & Times Content
Session 1 Sep 15, 2022 (9am-5pm) Kick-off: mutual expectations and introduction to course materials
Session 2 Sep 28, 2022 (9am-5pm)
Sep 29, 2022 (9am-3pm)		 Introduction to collaboration and key concepts
Session 3 Oct 19, 2022 (9am-5pm)
Oct 20, 2022 (9am-3pm)		 Basic skills for collaborative problem solving
Session 4 Nov 2, 2022 (9am-5pm)
Nov 3, 2022 (9am-3pm)		 Assessing opportunities for collaboration and designing a collaborative process
Session 5 Dec 7, 2022 (9am-5pm)
Dec 8, 2022 (9am-3pm)		 Different contexts of and approaches to environmental, natural resource, and public policy collaboration
Session 6 Jan 11, 2023 (9am-5pm)
Jan 12, 2023 (9am-3pm)		 Facilitation skills, adaptive leadership, and self-leadership
Session 7 Mar 2, 2023 (9am-5pm) Graduation session

Thanks to the generosity of our scholarship sponsors, we are able to create diverse participant cohorts each year. We welcome additional scholarship support; please contact edrprogram@law.utah.edu for more information.

What our graduates have to say:

“As someone who spent many years in school, I can say that the EDR Program Effective Natural Resource Collaboration short course is one of the best classes I have ever taken! I was interested in continuing my skill-building through this professional training and was blown away by how engaging and applicable the materials were. I did not expect to develop such strong partnerships with my peers via remote learning, and Danya and Nedra are so committed and passionate that it’s impossible not to dive right in! Thank you for this opportunity!”

Dr. Evelyn Pickering, Post-Doctoral Researcher (University of Arizona) on an NSF-Funded project on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation
“This EDR course on environment and natural resource collaboration provided me with valuable tools that have helped me expand my professional skillset around negotiation, collaboration, and facilitation. Additionally, I appreciated how the course helped me connect those skillsets to what I value in my personal life and understand how these concepts are as much a part of who I am as they are things that I do.”

Elisha Hornung, U.S. Forest Service
“This is a lifestyle change for me!  From now on I will be conducting situation assessments/readiness checks before convening major projects or any collaborative process.”

Laura Bolyard, National Park Service
“[I learned that] situation assessments are a key action before and during multiparty collaboration. This course really got me thinking and using well researched materials, studies, and applied theories while connecting with a great cohort of co-learners who’ve given themselves permission to keep learning.”

Laura Briefer, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities
Learning facilitative practices and philosophy in the EDR Short Course has helped me immensely. Focusing on asking good questions and remembering that most people just want to be heard has been a revolutionary way to approach navigating conversations with people I love who process and communicate so differently than I do.”

Cassidy Jones, National Parks Conservation Association
“One crucial skill I got to practice during this course was learning how to be truly present and attentive; listening carefully and being inquisitive and empathetic regarding the interests and viewpoints of others." 

Keith Lawrence, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
“[The course taught me that] conflict just is, not really this giant monster I had been trying to avoid – instead it can be an opportunity to enact meaningful change.”

Jordan Katcher, Utah Community Development Office
"Not every situation is ripe for collaboration -- that was a great lightbulb moment for me in this course that I am taking directly into my work and life!”

Josh Johnson, Idaho Conservation League