Cowritten by Scott McCreary and Keith Mattson
Accord 3.0 members Scott McCreary and Keith Mattson will offer a practical short course on joint fact-finding on June 12 at the George Mason University Arlington, VA campus. Titled “The Practice and Persuasion of Joint Fact-Finding”, the course will teach participants how to effectively conduct a JFF process for scientifically-intensive environmental public policy disputes
Joint fact-finding (JFF) has been a part of the conflict resolution field for 30 years, yet launching and applying these techniques of collaborative fact- and data-based decision-making is easier said than done. Given the current divisive political arena, the need for solid methods to clarify and narrow disagreements and present credible information is greater than ever.
How can today’s professionals employ JFF to create a platform for well-informed environmental decision-making? What are key steps, strategies, and considerations? Participants can expect to gain a comprehensive understanding of the joint fact-finding model, how it compares to other current methodologies, when to use it and how to design, conduct and apply the outputs of JFF.
The course will be headed by Scott McCreary, President of CONCUR, Inc. Scott earned his PhD at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and holds a Masters in Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley. In his 32 years of work as an environmental planner and 28 years of experience as a facilitator and mediator, Scott has led over 100 projects, including 15 JFF initiatives and another 20 with strong JFF components. These have ranged from site-specific cases to federal regulations to broad policy initiatives.
Scott will team with colleague and fellow Accord 3.0 member Keith Mattson as co-trainer. Keith is a Honolulu-based specialist in urban planning and policy analysis whose recent work has included teaming with Peter Adler on JFF processes for pesticides in GMO crop production on Kauai, a proposed Hawaii state marine non-commercial fishing license system and a long-standing community dispute on street festivals in Honolulu’s Chinatown neighborhood. Keith earned a Masters of City Planning from University of California at Berkeley.
Scott and Keith have also collaborated along with CONCUR Associate Meredith Cowart on a stakeholder assessment and engagement plan for the American Samoa Ocean Planning Team.
You can look over the JFF course description. And, if you decide to go to this conference, you can register here.
Note: Trainings will take place on June 12 before the Conference on June 13 & 14. You will be asked to select your preferred trainings while registering for the conference.