The debate over the value of community-based environmental collaboration is one that dominates current discussions of the management of public lands and other resources. In Community-Based Collaboration: Bridging Socio-Ecological Research and Practice, the volume’s contributors offer an in-depth interdisciplinary exploration of what attracts people to this collaborative mode. The authors address the new institutional roles adopted by community-based collaborators and their interaction with existing governance institutions in order to achieve more holistic solutions to complex environmental challenges. Contributors:
Reviews:
"This book is one of a kind. Dukes, Firehock, and Birkhoff have for the past decade been leading researchers in community collaboration, and this book represents the culmination of their work. Standing apart from other publications that address consensus building, resolving environmental and land disputes, or mediating resource conservation conflicts, Community-Based Collaboration focuses on the U.S. experience with collective management of water and land resources. The book provides new knowledge and insights that will be indispensable to all scholars and practitioners in the field." Though field-based collaborations have been evolving for many years, this thoughtful volume finally brings together all the pieces needed to understand how CBCs work, why they work, and what may get in their way. Community-Based Collaboration is a seminal book that should be considered a ‘must-have’ for those investigating collaboration, especially collaboration that is not just decision-making, but also collecting and applying knowledge. A road map to usher in an era of cooperative and participatory research and practice. The volume’s chapters are thorough, well-written, refreshingly complementary, and well-integrated.
E. Franklin Dukes is Director of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia and the Environmental Conflict Resolution Initiative at George Mason University. Karen E. Firehock is Executive Director of the Green Infrastructure Center and Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia. Juliana E. Birkhoff is Vice-President of Programs and Practice at RESOLVE.
