Sustainability professionals target some of the most complex and contentious challenges facing humanity, such as securing the health of the Chesapeake Bay’s ecology, economy, and culture. Many solutions appear just within reach, if only we had the leadership to implement them. In response to this opportunity, the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability (CLiGS) is highlighting work from the Executive Master of Natural Resources (XMNR) program, including projects reporting on the utility of a promising strategy called Collective Impact.
Collective Impact is becoming a preferred adaptive management technique for complex sustainability challenges. It promotes learning and adapting through partnerships. It helps organizations and people create and see their roles in the problem and its solution, understand which resources they should bring to the table, inspires commitment, and leads to emergent, innovative solutions.
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is a classic example of a complex adaptive system that with contentious sustainability challenges and opportunities—and thus was the target of recent projects in the XMNR program. It is one of the largest, most studied, and best funded watershed management efforts in the world, yet progress towards sustainable development remains elusive. Solutions are beyond the capacities of any single institution, or even multiple organizations within any sector, and thus require cross-sector collaboration and innovation by multiple organizations working over time and space—Collective Impact.
Detailed case studies of innovative collaborations working in or near the watershed identified key lessons that can improve any project targeting economic, ecological, and cultural conditions of the Bay. Efforts promoting sustainable development have more and more lasting impacts if they:
– Negotiate shared goals
– Share measures of progress towards those goals
– Champion the cause by rallying the troops and attracting attention
– Secure adequate, reliable funding for the long-term
– Communicate regularly regarding clear goals, progress, challenges, and needs
– Adjust goals and methods as lessons are learned and shared through the network
– Support and are supported by a backbone organization that brokers relationships, serves housekeeping functions, and provides continuity.