Improving Environmental Decision‐making Through Collaborative Methods

In the past, government agencies with environmental missions rarely allowed public oversight over final decisions. However, faced with loss of control as policy and planning are increasingly carried out by Congress or the courts, some agencies, supported by businesses, communities, and environmental groups, are using collaborative methods in the decisionmaking process. This emerging paradigm for environmental decisionmaking is driven by practical necessity rather than by abstract theory. This article will demonstrate that collaborative management is a process that broadens the influence of all entities concerned with an environmental decision, and is more likely to: (1) include the needs and opinions of affected parties; (2) bring a dialogue on normative values into the deliberative process; and (3) result in decisions that enhance environmental protection.