ABSTRACT
The institutionalization of environmental collaboration and conflict resolution (ECCR) practice in the public sector has occurred without much explicit attention to what makes such institutions effective interveners in contentious environmental and natural resource issues. This chapter offers some background on own organizations—the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center (CPRC) at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the William D. Ruckelshaus Center at Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Washington (UW). It focuses on organizations' experiences to explore attributes that contribute to public sector ECCR institutional environmental mediation effectiveness and the types of functions they may serve in preventing and resolving environmental conflicts. Practitioners working to create effective public sector ECCR institutions should attend to several important institutional considerations, including: establishing appropriate party-mediator relationships; ensuring mediator competence; and providing an adequate resource base for efficient access to ECCR services. The chapter concludes by highlighting some of the unique roles public sector ECCR institutions can play as environmental mediators.
