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The Partnership Series logo Course Site Readiness Criteria

Important Considerations Prior to Holding the Course in Your Area
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Group considering land issuesThe success of this course largely depends on the readiness of participants to engage in constructive dialog among themselves and with instructors on how to improve relationships with each other and with government.  By changing those relationships, and by using the tools, processes, and concepts presented in the course, people can begin to control and create a more positive future for their communities and the environments they occupy.  The course is designed to be motivational and instructive around those purposes.

Although space may be reserved for attendance by agency personnel from outside the local area, it is highly recommended that the majority of participation be place-based.   That is, participants should be either local residents or involved in local issues and able to share different values concerning a common geographical setting.   Although the course leans toward the management of public lands, attendance should not be limited to only those interests.

Topics for discussion include: managing entire landscapes for the future benefit of local communities and the nation, understanding the interdependency among the owners and administrating agencies for those landscapes, and the tie between the social and economic well-being of the community and the health of the surrounding environment.  Business people, community leaders, state and local government, and educators all should contribute to these discussions. 

To help the local manager and/or sponsor prepare for delivery of this course, the following considerations should be made.

  1. Signs of Readiness:
    • Is there a reasonable level of trust and communication between the local land manager(s) and the various public land interests to support effective exchange of values and ideas?
    • Are local issues so intense that additional ground work for building communication should be done first, before holding the course?
    • Is leadership for community-based management already evident in the community (or communities), in which this course is proposed.  This in not a prerequisite, but certainly a valuable attribute.
  2. Management Considerations:
    • Do you, as the local manager, believe in the concept of community-based partnerships, and do you openly advocate it?
    • Are you, and possibly other agency managers, willing to attend the entire session and participate as another member of the public?  While it is not necessary that other managers be so inclined, the sponsoring manager should definitely consider this question personally.
    • Do you feel comfortable expressing your views, values, and philosophies, as a participant in this course?  Based on previous experience, this is perhaps one of the most important contributions that can be made at this course.
    • Are you or your site organizer willing to attend a prior class offering so you can better (a) assess the value to your location and (b) prepare to host a session?
    • Would you consider scheduling your session on a Thursday-Friday-Saturday?  (Some past hosts have suggested attendance by nongovernment persons would be higher.)