Consensus Building Institute

Massachusetts faces a housing crisis, producing roughly half of the new housing needed each year to meet demand and maintain affordability. To address this challenge, Governor Maura Healey tasked the Unlocking Housing Production Commission to seek consensus on ways to remove barriers to housing production in Massachusetts. CBI facilitated the Commission’s work in partnership with staff from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The fourteen Commission members represented diverse interests and values, ranging from affordable housing advocates to state environmental protection officials, town mayors, organized labor, private and non-profit housing developers, and regional planners. The group reached consensus on bold recommendations to remove barriers to multifamily housing production across the state. The recommendations include revising state and local zoning and permitting regulations, increasing economic incentives for housing production, and strengthening the state’s capacity to resolve tradeoffs and maximize joint gains across housing, environment, water, and transportation policies. The Commission’s report is available here: https://lnkd.in/eZrS3YFp

“It brings me tranquility. I just sit down and I see the little waves come and go, and just the sound of nature—I mean, I love this.” Hear a podcast about life along the Mystic River, from the Resilient Mystic Collaborative and the Consensus Building Institute. At Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eyrYcNnv At Spotify: https://lnkd.in/epQQUQkN

On this week's blog, Abbey Gyetvai writes about her Practicum Internship with Consensus Building Institute. During her time with CBI, Abbey was able to work on nine different projects, both domestic and international. She gained critical skills in environmental governance, leadership, research and negotiation that she's ready to apply as she continues her environmental career. 🤝 🌍 🌲 https://lnkd.in/gAFJRVAQ #environmentalpolicy #environmentalgovernance #gradschool #practicumprojects #ucdavis

Hear about life along the Mystic River in our latest podcast episode! The lower Mystic River, which runs from the Amelia Earhart Dam in Somerville, under the Tobin Bridge, and out into Boston Harbor, has been essential for industry. That’s meant years of heavy pollution, but after a massive harbor cleanup, there’s now an effort to consider the future of life alongside and with the Mystic that prepares communities for the flooding and extreme heat impacts of climate change, while letting them enjoy the benefits of a clean waterfront. That effort has been getting to the very heart of what rivers can be for their surroundings. In this episode—made by CBI in collaboration with the Resilient Mystic Collaborative—you’ll hear from community members and more about what this storied river means, has meant, and could mean for them. Find it via Apple Podcasts here: https://lnkd.in/eyrYcNnv Find it via Spotify here: https://lnkd.in/epQQUQkN

Years ago, CBI's Melanie Gárate heard people making angry crow noises at her while she was monitoring shorebirds in Massachusetts. "I’d gotten myself between visitors and the beach they wanted," she writes in a short essay at CBI.org. "Without knowing it at the time, I’d just had one of my first experiences in dealing with conflict resolution over environmental policy." Read more over at our site: https://lnkd.in/gdqh3ucF

CBI is happy to welcome Samantha Haas, who joins us as a Senior Associate. Based in Colorado, she brings nearly a decade of experience as a facilitator and mediator, covering issues including water resources, management of public lands, and sustainable community development. Read more about Sam at our site: https://lnkd.in/gvfHqSBG

The Muddy River, which runs through Boston’s Emerald Necklace park system, is the most polluted tributary in the Charles River watershed. A cleaner Muddy River is thus a priority for the well-being of its surrounding communities. But the Muddy is complicated: it’s been built over to such a degree that, in many places, it is channelized under streets and buildings, and it meanders through the dense communities of Brookline, Boston, and Newton.   Working with the Charles River Watershed Association, CBI has brought together stormwater experts, community representatives, conservationists, and more for the Muddy River Vision Plan. Read about it in our latest "CBI in Action": https://lnkd.in/eAnH8-RN

Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a fundamental right recognized by international human rights law, which ensures that indigenous peoples can give or withhold consent to activities or projects affecting their lands, territories, and resources. Now, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which promotes sustainable seafood farming around the world, is seeking to revise its Farm Standard (and Feed Standard) to better incorporate the rights of indigenous peoples by including the concept of FPIC more directly.    CBI is supporting ASC in this endeavor, helping it navigate the complexities of this international principle in practice. Read about this work and more in the latest "CBI in Action": https://lnkd.in/eAnH8-RN 

Gray wolves were hunted out of Colorado decades ago, but in 2020, writes CBI's Ryan Golten, "Colorado voters passed Proposition 114, which calls for the reintroduction of gray wolves in the western part of the state. The proposition passed narrowly: those who lived and worked where the wolves would be reintroduced—a minority of the state’s overall population—tended to vote against it. The divisions on the issue, then, matched the growing sense of polarization between the state’s urban and rural communities, the metropolitan front range and the western slope." At our site, read about Ryan Golten's work to support communication across differences on this issue—work that "started with a simple plan for three meetings, involving a small group of eight key stakeholders representing ranching and wildlife interests, plus top-level agency officials." She's found that "the first steps into thoughtful discussion and listening can be a giant leap, inspiring a sense of hope that people can solve problems together." Find the full reflection here: https://lnkd.in/e7wZssBw

Since the passage of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) across the state have been working to meet and maintain sustainable conditions. This requires close collaboration between county officials, water and resource management agencies, affected interests and communities, the general public, and technical experts, along with collaboration between the GSAs themselves across different jurisdictions and interconnected underground basins. In the northern Sacramento valley, CBI is part of a team of technical and facilitation consultants working on sustainable groundwater management implementation, focusing on several basins across Tehama County and Glenn County. Read about this work and more in our latest "CBI in Action": https://lnkd.in/eAnH8-RN