PCI/NPCC Board Elects
Two Former Governors as Co-Chairs

Besides electing new Co-Chairs at its January 2004 meeting, the Board also discussed ways of addressing key issues through collaboration.

NPCC Director Greg Wolf described three approaches the Center is using to advance collaborative problem solving in states:

  • State Solutions - A program aimed at improving outcomes to complex community problems through collaborative partnerships among business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The partners seek solutions by simultaneously addressing economic, social, and environmental objectives. State Solutions is based on the Oregon Solutions model, the first such initiative of this kind. Abby White, Coordinator for State Solutions, and NPCC Fellow Lang Marsh are working with leaders in the New England states as well as New York and New Jersey to assess the viability of initiating State Solutions projects.
  • Enlibra - A set of collaborative environmental management tools aimed at resolving complex environmental problems. Jim Souby, PCI/NPCC Board member and former Executive Director of Western Governors Association, described key Enlibra activities at the Oquirrh Institute, a private think-tank focused on public-private policymaking, which Souby now heads. The Institute recently published the Enlibra Toolkit, (featured in the January 04 E-News), a resource that explores Enlibra principles in depth and provides readers with case studies, lessons learned, and tools required to tackle environmental issues.
  • Transportation - A contentious issue in many states because of the implications on growth and pollution control. Several states are taking collaborative approaches to resolving their long-standing and complex transportation problems. Some of those approaches are featured in NPCC's best-practices colloquium report, Transportation Solutions: Collaborative Problem Solving for States and Communities , including several projects in Florida . Bob Jones, PCI/NPCC Board member and Executive Director of the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium (FCRC), and Bob Romig, Director of the Office of Policy Planning for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), traced FDOT's growing use of collaboration and dispute resolution over the years. Between 1998 and 2004 an impressive list of successful projects has emerged in Florida . The websites of both FCRC and FDOT offer detailed information about these initiatives.