Collaboration is a way individuals, groups, or organizations work together to address matters they agree are important—even if they disagree about why some specific matter is important—and they agree are best addressed by working as partners.
Collaboration is about doing more together than any of us can do alone.
Important aspects of collaboration often include:
Building the capacity to get things done on the ground or in communities.
Seeking meaningful, two-way dialogue aimed at learning and sharing information.
Leveraging differences--different strengths, different knowledge, different power--on behalf of the group, rather than dwelling on those differences.
Allowing equal participation even when there are differences in power, authority, and responsibility.
Focusing on finding common ground and, most importantly, on a willingness to live with and learn from the eventual decision.
However, it is important to remember that collaboration does not transfer government authority nor the authority of other participants.
Collaborative efforts can take many forms, and while there are best practices, it is also helpful to learn from specific examples of successful efforts: how they formed, who was involved, how they governed themselves, etc.
The overall goal of the four-forest effort is to create landscape-scale restoration approaches that will provide for fuels reduction, forest health, and wildlife and plant diversity.
The handover memo is a template for staff to use when changes in leadership occur and a smooth transition is needed between current Agency leadership, partners, and new leadership.
