NW Collaborative
Futures Conference

Collaborative Competencies

Collaborative governance is an approach to public policy that helps parties reach across political, cultural, social, physical, and geographical boundaries, in order to overcome conflict, seek mutual understanding and common ground, and identify areas for mutual gains. But collaboration is not easy or natural for many people. Most benefit from assistance to help increase their capacity to initiate, participate in, and/or lead collaborative public policy efforts. This fun and interactive session will review the University Network for Collaborative Governance’s Collaborative Competencies Framework, which provides an overview of the concrete skills needed to initiate and participate in collaborative approaches to public issues.

Speaker: Michael Kern, MPA
Director, William D. Ruckelshaus Center 
Associate Professor, Washington State University Extension
Affiliate Associate Professor, University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

Michael Kern is Director of the William D. Ruckelshaus Center at Washington State University and the University of Washington; Associate Professor at WSU Extension; and Affiliate Associate Professor at the UW Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. Michael has over 30 years of experience helping diverse groups reach common ground on public policy issues. Prior to joining the Center, he was a Senior Associate at Triangle Associates Inc., providing facilitation, mediation, conflict resolution, strategic planning, and other services. He has also provided these services at nonprofit and academic institutions for the North Cascades Initiative, Hatchery Reform Project, Hanford Openness Workshops, etc.