Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

1. Matching Understanding with Action Paper to 2nd International Conference on Sustainability Engineering and Science Auckland, 20 – 23 February, 2007 Steve Thompson Chief Executive Royal Society of New Zealand Steve.Thompson@rsnz.org Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

2. Leontief Model of the Economy RecycleProduct RecycleWaste Production Effort Leontief Raw Materials ConsumerGoods Waste/Pollution Consumers Landfill WaterfillAirfill Reduce Reduce/Capture/recycle Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

3. Incoming Minister of Environment Maiden speech “Ten years ago we didn’t know about the environment” “Now it’s all around us!” Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

4. Some simple questions: Do we as a society understand which of the resources we use are dangerously near to exhaustion? Do we know which of our natural resources are nearing their pollution tolerance? Are we sure which of our natural habitats are most in danger? Do firms, and does the nation, report on the state of those resources and habitats, and what their activities do to them?

5. Separable to Nested Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

6. Suppose you have to get a • message across to people which: • Is doom-laden • Is strenuously contested by some scientists • Is beyond the comprehension, and certainly the action, of most individuals • Shows few visible or tangible signs of being a problem • Is well beyond the planning horizons of politicians • Seems to have no clear political solution • Is well beyond the budgetary horizons of governments, local councils and planners • Contains no element of sports competition or excitement • Doesn’t seem to have any digestible “facts” • Is difficult for media reporters to digest into sound bites • Can’t be written up in 300-word articles

7. Who makes the Decision? Litigation = High degree of control by third party Arbitration = ▼ Conciliation = ▼ Mediation = ▼ Facilitation = ▼ Negotiation = ▼ Dialogue and Problem solving = High degree of control by particpants Most of the people I represent had the same frame of mind as I did – that we were going to straighten these turkeys out……But all that changed ……Dialogue participant Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

8. Consultation Consensus Participants are:Advocates Decision Makers Objectives are:Hear many interests Search for single voice Approach is: Positional Interest-based Process is: Predetermined Participant-designed Relationship is: Little contact Grows over time Negotiation is: Indirect Face to Face At the end of the discussion you could see both sides budging Just a little bit. I decide to stick with the group after that……..All of these people who I was told were wingnuts – not so! ……Dialogue participant Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

9. Steps to Consensus Asessment: Talking about whether to talk Getting Started: Talking about how to talk Running the process: Talking Implementing and Monitoring the Results: Turning talk into action We started off being very general and now we are very specific and hard-nosed. I think that where the trust came from was That we had to have an action plan. Each one of us went to the table thinking that We had something to teach. I think we all now Know that we had something to learn ……Dialogue participant Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

10. Tips for success: • Turn negatives into positives • Know your own organisation’s interests • Avoid surprises • Set practical internal deadlines • Add dimensions to the solution space. Don’t narrow to win-lose • Give useful information • Listen and understand underlying interests • even if speaker is not articulate • Ask yourself why views differ • Create a package proposal. Try it out on “home team” • Explain how your package meets other stakeholder interests • Ask others how their proposal meets your interests • Ask constructive questions • Test assumptions for correctness • Agreement should remain tentative until all agree • Write down and have all sign the agreement Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

11. Facilitating Consensus: • Be independent • Have no personal stake • Deal with process, not content • Encourage group to define own rules • Treat all stakeholder positions as legitimate • Become familiar with the issues • Speak plainly and objectively • Be able to explain parties’ views to each other • Focus on the integrity of the process • Maintain trust and confidentiality • Be available at critical times Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

12. Facilitating Consensus: • Be independent • Have no personal stake • Deal with process, not content • Encourage group to define own rules • Treat all stakeholder positions as legitimate • Become familiar with the issues • Speak plainly and objectively • Be able to explain parties’ views to each other • Focus on the integrity of the process • Maintain trust and confidentiality • Be available at critical times Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand

13. Thank you, and don’t forget to turn the lights out Steve Thompson, Royal Society of New Zealand