Collaboration Training

Training plays a vital role in the Center’s mission to build capacity for collaborative policy within the state and region. Structured to be useful to individuals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, the Center provides training in collaborative problem-solving, conflict resolution and building long-term working relationships. As a member of the University Network for Collaborative Governance, the Center uses the Guide to Collaborative Competencies to help parties understand what types of collaborative skills university centers can help develop.

The Center is currently in the process of developing a more robust collaboration training program. As a first step, the Center is researching collaborative public policy training resources, to better understand the types of training resources that exist, training needs, and partnership opportunities, so to help ensure the Center’s program will not be duplicating what already exists.

Training Examples

• Co-sponsored—along with the Council of State Governments, Seattle CityClub, National Institute for Civil Discourse, and Henry M. Jackson Foundation—skills-building workshops for Washington State legislators entitled Building Trust through Civil Discourse in the Legislative Arena.
• Provided training on Strategies for Managing Challenging Facilitation Situations at the Community Development Extension Institute in Boise, Idaho.
• Provided communications, conflict resolution and consensus-seeking training to incoming students participating in The Evergreen State College’s Civic Engagement Institute.
• Joined with Oregon Consensus at Portland State University (PSU) to train the Columbia River Gorge Commission on how to communicate more effectively and work more collaboratively.
• Provided trainings to help Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife habitat biologists manage interactions and relationships with permit applicants, while providing protection for fish and their habitat.
• Teamed with the National Policy Consensus Center at PSU to provide collaboration training to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Aquatics Division.
• Held workshops to assist newly-elected state legislators with the transition from candidate to legislator.
• Provided a three part webinar series for Western U.S. Extension professionals on Tools and Techniques for Managing and Resolving Conflict.
• Hosted a training on how to moderate a Kettering Foundation National Issue Forum Dialogue. Co-hosted a Kettering Dialogue forum on the national debt with a UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance student group.

Updated on March 4, 2020