Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at MIT for more than 50 years. Co-founder and Vice-Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Mediator and Founder of the Consensus Building Institute.
State environmental agencies face opposition when they revise or propose new regulations. Environ... more State environmental agencies face opposition when they revise or propose new regulations. Environmental regulations are typically challenged because they impose costs, are perceived to be unfair, or the scientific basis of the regulation carries some degree of uncertainty. The difficulty of crafting regulations is compounded by the existence of multiple interest groups that are affected by rules and rulemaking in different ways. Attempts by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to update the state's septic code ...
This article discusses three options that the article dubs as arguing, bargaining, and getting ag... more This article discusses three options that the article dubs as arguing, bargaining, and getting agreement. It emphasizes what seem to be usefully prescriptive norms of behaviour for the ‘combatants’ in the public policy arena. The article studies discourse between dialogue and discussion; the former refers to the exploration of options, while the latter refers to making decisions. Hard bargaining, negotiating, and organizational learning are the other concepts discussed in the article.
Recently adopted international environmental treaties on climate change and biodiversity represen... more Recently adopted international environmental treaties on climate change and biodiversity represent some of the most complex agreements ever negotiated, involving science-intensive policy questions and implicating not only governments, but industry and a range of nongovernmental organizations. The inter-connections that should have been taken into account in drafting these agreements were difficult to achieve, given the fractured structure of multilateral institutions. Even if the parties were willing to expose their interests as necessary for effective problem-solving, commitments made to home constituencies made it impossible to be flexible. The Consensus Building Institute has pioneered efforts to design a process that can overcome such barriers in high stakes, high profile, multi-party negotiations. Each has involved senior diplomats in what is best described as collaborative problem solving. This article will use the lessons learned from three experiences to show how parallel in...
Imagine the following: a small city of about 30,000 must decide whether to allow construction of ... more Imagine the following: a small city of about 30,000 must decide whether to allow construction of a controversial industrial facility. The plant will generate sorely needed jobs and tax revenue, but it might also pose serious environmental and public-health risks. Under normal circumstances, the city council would require the developer to undertake a set of technical studies that city departments would review before a permit could be granted. Then, the city government (including several elected and/or appointed boards) might hold a hearing, ...
Land use decisions involve tough choices for local planners and Planning Board members. Currently... more Land use decisions involve tough choices for local planners and Planning Board members. Currently, the land use decision making process has many limitations. These limitations naturally have a negative impact upon the decisions issued using this process. One proposed remedy is the process of assisted negotiation or mediation. Advocates of assisted negotiation claim that their process produces" better" decisions than the conventional process. The purpose of this thesis is to assess whether the decisions ...
There are three prevailing models of university service: "ivory tower, " "service ... more There are three prevailing models of university service: "ivory tower, " "service station, " and "activist." Proponents of the ivory tower model hold that major research universities should refrain from direct involvement in public policy and should focus exclusively on basic research. Those who advocate the service station model argue that universities contribute through applied research and by offering expert advice to government and industry. Activist universities serve by identifying social wrongs and working to rectify them. Each model suggests a different strategy for bringing technical knowledge to bear on public policy-making. Each of the models is flawed. The ivory tower, service station, and activist models for service are inconsistent
Multistakeholder Dialogues (MSDs) are being used as part of many international policy-making effo... more Multistakeholder Dialogues (MSDs) are being used as part of many international policy-making efforts. Official and unofficial representatives are being brought together to build relationships, set agendas for future official and unofficial dialogues, and even to generate packages of proposals or recommendations. The authors describe the key challenges that face prospective MSD designers, including: finding the right participants, managing with extremely limited financial resources, providing effective meeting facilitation, and integrating the work of MSDs into existing institutional activities and structures. While there are examples of successful MSDs that contribute to official policymaking, too many multistakeholder dialogues founder because the participants are inadequately prepared, the processes are managed ineffectively, and expectations are unrealistic.
State environmental agencies face opposition when they revise or propose new regulations. Environ... more State environmental agencies face opposition when they revise or propose new regulations. Environmental regulations are typically challenged because they impose costs, are perceived to be unfair, or the scientific basis of the regulation carries some degree of uncertainty. The difficulty of crafting regulations is compounded by the existence of multiple interest groups that are affected by rules and rulemaking in different ways. Attempts by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to update the state's septic code ...
This article discusses three options that the article dubs as arguing, bargaining, and getting ag... more This article discusses three options that the article dubs as arguing, bargaining, and getting agreement. It emphasizes what seem to be usefully prescriptive norms of behaviour for the ‘combatants’ in the public policy arena. The article studies discourse between dialogue and discussion; the former refers to the exploration of options, while the latter refers to making decisions. Hard bargaining, negotiating, and organizational learning are the other concepts discussed in the article.
Recently adopted international environmental treaties on climate change and biodiversity represen... more Recently adopted international environmental treaties on climate change and biodiversity represent some of the most complex agreements ever negotiated, involving science-intensive policy questions and implicating not only governments, but industry and a range of nongovernmental organizations. The inter-connections that should have been taken into account in drafting these agreements were difficult to achieve, given the fractured structure of multilateral institutions. Even if the parties were willing to expose their interests as necessary for effective problem-solving, commitments made to home constituencies made it impossible to be flexible. The Consensus Building Institute has pioneered efforts to design a process that can overcome such barriers in high stakes, high profile, multi-party negotiations. Each has involved senior diplomats in what is best described as collaborative problem solving. This article will use the lessons learned from three experiences to show how parallel in...
Imagine the following: a small city of about 30,000 must decide whether to allow construction of ... more Imagine the following: a small city of about 30,000 must decide whether to allow construction of a controversial industrial facility. The plant will generate sorely needed jobs and tax revenue, but it might also pose serious environmental and public-health risks. Under normal circumstances, the city council would require the developer to undertake a set of technical studies that city departments would review before a permit could be granted. Then, the city government (including several elected and/or appointed boards) might hold a hearing, ...
Land use decisions involve tough choices for local planners and Planning Board members. Currently... more Land use decisions involve tough choices for local planners and Planning Board members. Currently, the land use decision making process has many limitations. These limitations naturally have a negative impact upon the decisions issued using this process. One proposed remedy is the process of assisted negotiation or mediation. Advocates of assisted negotiation claim that their process produces" better" decisions than the conventional process. The purpose of this thesis is to assess whether the decisions ...
There are three prevailing models of university service: "ivory tower, " "service ... more There are three prevailing models of university service: "ivory tower, " "service station, " and "activist." Proponents of the ivory tower model hold that major research universities should refrain from direct involvement in public policy and should focus exclusively on basic research. Those who advocate the service station model argue that universities contribute through applied research and by offering expert advice to government and industry. Activist universities serve by identifying social wrongs and working to rectify them. Each model suggests a different strategy for bringing technical knowledge to bear on public policy-making. Each of the models is flawed. The ivory tower, service station, and activist models for service are inconsistent
Multistakeholder Dialogues (MSDs) are being used as part of many international policy-making effo... more Multistakeholder Dialogues (MSDs) are being used as part of many international policy-making efforts. Official and unofficial representatives are being brought together to build relationships, set agendas for future official and unofficial dialogues, and even to generate packages of proposals or recommendations. The authors describe the key challenges that face prospective MSD designers, including: finding the right participants, managing with extremely limited financial resources, providing effective meeting facilitation, and integrating the work of MSDs into existing institutional activities and structures. While there are examples of successful MSDs that contribute to official policymaking, too many multistakeholder dialogues founder because the participants are inadequately prepared, the processes are managed ineffectively, and expectations are unrealistic.
An accessible narrative on understanding the geopolitics of negotiating international environment... more An accessible narrative on understanding the geopolitics of negotiating international environmental agreements. Provides clear guidance on improving the current system Informs the reader on the geopolitics of protecting our planet. Structured in a way that it can be used for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses.
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Papers by Lawrence E Susskind