John Jostes, a mediator and Santa Barbara planning commissioner, has been invited to help craft a national policy on technology and environmental conflict resolution.
Jostes was invited by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution to participate in a day-long work session on Guiding Principles for Technology and Environmental Conflict Resolution in Washington. The policy dialogue is sponsored by the Interior Department’s Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution. He will join participants from Interior, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, eBay, RESOLVE, and other leaders from regional and national conflict resolution nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, to craft a working paper on best practices for integrating the use of technology into the resolution of environmental and public policy disputes.
The work session will focus on how technology can be most effectively integrated into informed decision making, dispute resolution processes, stakeholder engagement and problem solving. The results of the work session will be presented and vetted at the U.S. Institute’s biennial Conference on Environmental Conflict Resolution later this month in Tucson.
Jostes recently joined RESOLVE as an affiliate. Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Washington, RESOLVE is one of the premier public policy dispute resolution organizations in the United States and internationally, with expertise in the full range of alternative dispute resolution and consensus building processes, and a commitment to understanding how these tools can enhance public decision making. Jostes is also national co-chairman of the Environment/Public Policy Section of the 6000-member Association for Conflict Resolution.
At the local level, Jostes is vice chairman of the Santa Barbara Planning Commission. His firm, Interactive Planning & Management, serves clients throughout California and the Southwest with mediation, facilitation, planning and decision support services.
For more information, contact Jostes at 805.687.4043.