Building Capacity

Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI): The Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI), founded in 1999, offers professional development for Virginia’s environmental leaders. With a reputation for excellence, the VNRLI is a partnership between IEN, Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech, and the Virginia Department of Forestry.

In VNRLI, Virginia’s leaders explore some of the most complex environmental issues facing Virginia today, develop personal and professional leadership skills, and learn strategies to help move communities beyond conflict to collaborative problem-solving. The growing network of VRNLI alumni is leading the Commonwealth to effective, sustainable solutions. Participants attend six three-day sessions held at various locations throughout Virginia. Graduation dinner is part of the last session held in early June.

All people involved with Virginia’s environment are welcome to apply. Each year a class of about 30 people representing a broad diversity of perspectives are accepted into the program – from all corners of the Commonwealth, all walks of life, and all ages. They work in small and large business, industry, local government, state agencies, federal agencies, civic organizations, environmental advocacy organizations, and some are individual citizen leaders.

Participants find the commitment to attend six workshops may be difficult but worthwhile, and have provided testimony to its value on a personal and professional level. Applications are usually available online by early April; admission decisions are usually made by mid-summer. Institute workshops begin in early fall and are held about every other month. For more information on the program and VNRLI Fellows, see the VNRLI website.

IEN also designs custom trainings in collaborative planning, negotiation, consensus-building, and conflict resolution and brings people together to develop sustainable solutions through Capacity Building: teaching, training, and strategic planning.

 

For local government and their communities

  • Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI)
  • Southeast Natural Resources Leadership Institute (SE-NRLI):
    Based on the success of the VNRLI program, the Virginia partnership of IEN, Virginia Tech and Virginia Department of Forestry, is developing a new multistate program for Southeast. Funded in large part by the U.S. Forest Service, participation will be open to 13 states and 1 territory that comprise the USFS southeastern region. The SE-NRLI program will focus on emerging regional issues and strategies for collaborative problem solving and conflict resolution. Anyone involved with regional environmental and land use issues in the southeast may apply – business, industry, state and federal government agencies, environmental organizations, and other non-governmental groups.
  • South Carolina Land Use Training: IEN developed a two-day training for local government officials of the Charleston area Council of Governments on land use conflict resolution tools.
  • Baltimore Planning Department Training: In partnership with Laura Bachle of Confluence Consulting, IEN designed and offered training in mediation and group facilitation for the City of Baltimore Planning Department in Fall 2003. This initial training, offered over a period of three weeks,was part of a larger project to develop a mediation and consensus building capacity within the Department

For state and federal agencies

For Business and Industry

For Nonprofits

  • Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI)
  • North Carolina ASSIST Training: IEN developed a one-day workshop/ strategic planning session for the board of the North Carolina tobacco control state coalition. The focus was on creating shared expectations for higher ground in decision-making and resolving conflict among coalition members and leaders.
  • Moving Community from Conflict to Consensus: IEN developed a one-day workshop for the 2000 national conference “Advancing Community Sustainability.” Participants explored the complexities of conflicts related to community sustainability, explored the meaning of consensus, and worked with Six Thinking Hats to address a complex land use issue.
  • Strategic Planning: Facilitated strategic planning retreats for numerous different civic, community and environmental nonprofit organizations, in Virginia and elsewhere such as the Western Virginia Land Trust, the Virginia Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Rivanna River, the National Committee for the New River, Virginia Trout Unlimited and a network of coal impact advocacy groups from coal producing states.
  • Community Solutions: IEN developed a training for community mediation centers and their experienced mediators to build their capacity to facilitate complex multii-party community issues. IEN conducted 2-day workshops for 8 centers in Virginia, and many of these centers are using these skills to facilitate local community issues.