Today, no natural resource management and environmental protection agency can act alone to achieve its mission.  Leveraging the resources and expertise of partners, stakeholders, and individuals through collaboration can produce more efficient, cost effective, and durable solutions to complex environmental and natural resource management problems and encourage:

• transparency (an open exchange of information and ideas that can lead to respect and trust building)
• joint fact finding to clearly define the problem, goals and possible solution options
• mutual learning and better understanding of values, issues and tradeoffs
• agreed upon goals and vision
• joint planning for monitoring and evaluating progress
• responsibility for and ownership of the recommended solution(s).

Effective public engagement designs include: easy access to accurate, understandable information; early, frequent, meaningful and varied opportunities for involvement; commitment to transparent processes, and being accountable for decisions.  Such processes can:

• produce more creative, technically superior options/outcomes
• be viewed as more fair and open
• encourage civic responsibility and stewardship
• improve the amount and quality of information
• foster better relationships (trust) among those involved
• provide opportunities to address misunderstandings and misinformation
• encourage mutual learning
• reduce litigation and adversarial behavior
• increase commitment to implementing decisions reached
• build capacity—among the public and within agencies—to participate in future decision-making processes and governance

Both government and the public are seeking better ways to interact and work together.  These Public Engagement pages provide links to information to help the public and government staff improve opportunities for collaboration in cooperative conservation activities.