Environmental Negotiation and Mediation Seminar*

The Environmental Negotiation and Mediation course offers a whirlwind tour of the environmental, natural resources, and public policy negotiation world, from two-party real estate “green development” discussions to multi-party environmental justice policy issues to international natural resources mediations. The course is designed to build students’ mutual-gains and cross-cultural negotiation skills throughout the semester, through participating in a multitude of simulations created by the Harvard Project on Negotiation, the Willamette Dispute Resolution Center, and Lewis & Clark’s own staff and alumni. Students will experience different negotiation perspectives first-hand by taking on the roles of attorney, client, task force member and national delegate, focusing on problem-solving approaches and gaining a sense for the dynamics of complex negotiations involving multiple stakeholders. This course also offers a separate track for those who want to develop their skills as mediators and facilitators.

There is no prerequisite for this seminar, which is designed to complement the Alternative Dispute Resolution class and other dispute resolution offerings at Lewis & Clark. The seminar is limited to 20 participants.

Students are evaluated based on participation in class discussions and negotiations, written products (negotiation preparatory materials and reflective journals), and a final exam. The seminar is not designed to meet the Writing Intensive Experience or Capstone requirement. A limited number of students may, by prior arrangement with the professor, receive additional credit for a supervised research paper , with substantial coaching and feedback on writing skills, on any topic relevant to the seminar.

* Typically offered every other year