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Applying Collaboration to EPA Decision-Making
Intermediate Level Training
Hosted by U.S. EPA, Community Involvement and Program Initiatives Branch
Community Involvement University (CIU)

What is the course overview?
The course presents a basic model for collaboration and leads students through a thorough process of how to plan and implement a collaboration process. Collaboration can be applied to any process with diverse and potentially influential stakeholders, whether internally, with other agencies, and with public stakeholders.

Who should take this course?
This course is recommended for EPA staff or managers who are working on complex sites or issues where multiple stakeholders may influence the outcome and greater cooperation is needed to get to a solution. There are no prerequisites for this course.

What are the course learning objectives?
Participants who complete this course will gain skills on:

  • What is collaboration and how to use it to improve decision making;
  • Conducting a situation assessment and identifying stakeholders;
  • Designing a collaborative process;
  • Collaborative skills: communications, conflict management, consensus-building;
  • Collaborative behaviors;
  • Convening collaborative groups;
  • Using consensus-building; and
  • Planning and implementing collaborative approaches for maximum results.


What are the logistics?
This one or two-day course (this course can be customized to meet regional training needs) is highly interactive with exercises and programs designed to help participants recognize the value of collaboration and develop needed approaches and skills to improving their use of collaboration. Recommended course size is 12-30 participants.

Doug Sarno of The Participation Company (TPC) teaches this course. He developed the course and is a civil engineer with more than 30 years experience in Superfund and environmental cleanup. He has devoted much of his career to improving environmental decision-making and effectively engaging diverse groups of stakeholders in complex and controversial decisions.

TPC offers a wide range of courses on public participation, collaboration, communication, conflict resolution and facilitation tailored specifically to EPA and the Superfund program. These courses are designed as stand-alone events or combined in many configurations to create a customized program of instruction for groups or teams. All training is highly interactive and includes a wide variety of real-life lessons. Focus is on providing real, practical skills that EPA program managers, communicators and community relations professionals will apply immediately.

Is there available background material?

  • Participants receive a detailed course workbook.
For general information contact Tina Conley by telephone at 703-603-0696 or via e-mail at conley.tina@epa.gov

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