The Consensus Building Handbook

This handbook on group decision-making for those wanting to operate in a consensus fashion stresses the advantages of informal, common sense approaches to working together. It describes how any group can put these approaches into practice, and relates numerous examples of situations in which such approaches have been applied.

Introduction
PART ONE: A SHORT GUIDE TO CONSENSUS BUILDING
An Alternative to Robert s Rules of Order for Groups, Organizations and Ad Hoc Assemblies that Want to Operate by Consensus - Lawrence Susskind
PART TWO: HOW TO BULID CONSENSUS
Choosing Appropriate Consensus Building Techniques and Strategies - Susan Carpenter
Conducting a Conflict Assessment - Lawrence Susskind and Jennifer Thomas-Larmer
Designing a Consensus Building Process using a Graphic Road Map - David A Straus
Convening - Chris Carlson
The Role of Facilitators, Mediators, and Other Consensus Building Practitioners - Michael Elliot
Representation of Stakeholding Interests - David Laws
Managing Meetings to Build Consensus - David A Straus
Producing Consensus - Sarah McKearnan and David Fairman
Joint Fact-Finding and the Use of Technical Experts - John R Ehrmann and Barbara L Stinson
Making the Best Use of Technology - Connie P Ozawa
Dealing with the Press - James E Kunde
Dealing with Deep Value Differences - John Forester
Legal Issues in Consensus Building - Dwight Golann and Eric E Van Loon
Implementing Consenus-Based Agreements - William R Potapchuk and Jarle Crocker
Visioning - Carl M Moore, Gianni Longo and Patsy Palmer
Collaborative Problem Solving within Organizations - Christopher W Moore and Peter Woodrow
Evaluating Consensus Building - Judith E Innes
PART THREE: CASES AND COMMENTARIES
Introduction to the Cases and Commentaries - Michèle Ferenz
Activating a Policy Network - Peter Driessen
The Case of Mainport Schipol
The Northern Oxford County Coalition - Sarah McKearnan and Patrick Field
Four Maine Towns Tackle a Public Health Mystery
The Chelsea Charter Consensus Process - Susan L Podziba
Affordable Housing Mediation - Lawrence Susskind and Susan L Podziba
Building Consensus for Regional Agreements in the Hartford Area
San Francisco Estuary Project - Judith E Innes and Sarah Connick
Resolving Science-Intensive Public Policy Disputes - Scott McCreary
Reflections on the New York Bight Initiative
Negotiating Superfund Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation - Edward Scher
RuleNet - Michèle Ferenz and Colin Rule
An Experiment in On-Line Consensus Building
Regulatory Negotiations - Jan Jung-Min Sunoo and Juliette A Falkner
The Native American Experience
Cross-Cultural Community-Based Planning - Norman Dale
Negotiating the Future of the Haida Gwaii (British Columbia)
The Chattanooga Process - John Parr
A City s Vision is Realized
From City Hall to the Streets - Catherine Connolly
A Community Plan Meets the Real World
The Catron County Citizens Group - Melinda Smith
A Case Study in Community Collaboration
Facilitating Statewide HIV/AIDS Policies and Priorities in Colorado - Michael A Hughes with John Forester and Irene Weiser
Finding Common Ground on Abortion - Michelle LeBaron and Nike Carstarphen
Organizational Trauma Recovery - David Brubaker
The "God s Fellowship Community Church" Reconciliation Process
Building Consensus for Change within a Major Corporation - Judy Mares-Dixon, Julie A McKay and Scott Peppett
The Case of Levi Strauss & Co