The public is invited to a meeting of the Boston Harbor Islands Advisory Council.
Channel Markers for Successful Boston Harbor Islands Park Management
Rob Moir, Ph.D. Chair of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area Advisory Council will talk briefly about how the National Park Service brought together eleven island property owners with twenty eight Advisory Council Members to construct a General Management Plan that was approved by unanimous vote.
The NPS Service brought together eleven island property owners with twenty eight Advisory Council Members to construct a General Management Plan that was approved by unanimous vote. The Boston Harbor Island National Park Area is the nation’s a most participatory national park. The NPS owns nearly no property and manages in partnership with ten island owners and a twenty-eight member Advisory Council that included four Native American tribal nation representatives.
Groups as disparate as butterflies and elephants learned how to work productively together in three years of meetings to forge with unanimous approval a General Management Plan. Rob presents a primer for consensus builders on how and why the deliberative iterative process succeeded. He identifies seven “Channel Markers” that indicated if not moving forward that the process was on course and going in the right direction. A number of additional indicators were found resulting in 7 principles for the best participatory management practice.
You are welcome to stay for a discussion of the bylaws and how they might become more enabling of the work of the Advisory Council. Members of the Advisory Council serve the park with one or more of three roles. One role is to be active in the management work attending meetings and spending time on the islands. Another role is as Ambassador spreading the word on the park. A third role is to bear witness tied into the management of the park to inform the management on an as needed basis.
Comments are welcome. Let us know if these principles and indicators apply to your participatory management efforts.
Click to preview Rob’s ppd presentation BHI- AC 6-11-2014
The main agenda item is a review of the Advisory Council’s Bylaws. The Council’s Nominating & Bylaws Committee recommends some technical edits as well as a change to the way a quorum is determined. At the Committee meeting, there was lively discussion about other possible changes to the document. You are encouraged to review the draft before the meeting and come ready to share your thoughts.
Click to preview Rob’s Briefing Paper on the vital role the Advisory Council played in creating the park. BHI-AC ByLaws Report May edits
Please enter the building at 45 Devonshire Street (ring the bell if door is locked) and once inside take the elevator to the 8th Floor.