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Volume 1, Issue 2, 2007Governing Nature, Governing Ourselves: Engaging Citizens in Natural Resource DecisionsMatthew McKinney and Will Harmon This two-part article explores the lessons the authors have learned from their work helping citizens and decision makers engage in collaborative governance on land use, natural resource, and environmental issues. Part I describes a range of natural resource problems and examines what makes some intractable, or ‘wicked’. The authors propose a set of concepts, principles, and practices that constitute the most effective form of collaborative governance for responding to such problems. This article builds on more than 20 years of practical experience in designing and facilitating different types of processes to engage citizens and officials in shaping and implementing public policy. The intended audience is anyone who engages in, or wants to engage in, collaborative governance, including scientific and technical experts, elected and appointed officials, public administrators, advocates on different sides of public issues, and others who have an interest or stake in public deliberation of natural resource and environmental issues.
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