Partnerships and Power Dealing with Power, Conflict and Learning in the Facilitation of Multi- stakeholder Processes

Setting the Scene Program Welcome Introduction - power, partnerships and multi-stakeholder processes by Jim Woodhill Orientation address: The learning dimension to creative conflict management, by Barbara Gray Coffee break Insights from experience:  Chris Mbileni: reforms in South Africa  Doug Henderson: conflict and reform in Cambodia’s forest sector  Annemiek Verhallen: knowledge and power in Scheldt delta Discussing the major issues and challenges out of orientation address and case studies Presentation of afternoon workshops and division of groups Lunch Round 1 parallel workshops 1. Barbara Gray: Seemingly Irresolvable conflicts – making the breakthrough 2. Chris Mbileni: Effective mediation – Lessons from South Africa 3. Janice Jiggins: experiences from the SLIM integrated water management project 4. Scott Geller: power conflicts in national forest programmes. 5. Chris Geerling: Local interests and oil exploration: experiences from Shell in Nigeria 6. Ambrose Ong’wen (first round): application of ”Do No Harm” Planning Framework Tea break Round 2 workshops (repeat of round 1) Forum discussion. Responses to key challenges. Moderated by Niels Röling Drinks

Focusing Questions for Today How to analyse power and conflict dynamics? What are the ethics of facilitator intervention in situations of unequal power? How to empower marginalized groups so that can play a more equitable role in MSPs? What role does (experiential) learning play in mediation and conflict management? What are the strategies for overcoming seemingly intractable conflicts or power differences? What are the opportunities and the limitations of the MSP ‘paradigm’ in conflict ridden situations?

Introduction to Partnerships MSPs and Power Jim Woodhill

Current Development Discourse Good Governance Pro-Poor Growth Civil Society Participation Public Private Partnerships Privatisation Decentralisation Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship Sustainable Chain Management (food quality and safety) Market Access

Participatory Concepts Process Management Community / citizen participation Interactive decision making Adaptive management Participatory processes Multi-stakeholder processes Collaborative management Public private partnerships Dialogue Building social capital Social learning Deliberative democracy

Partnerships What Different groups joining together to achieve common objectives Why Inability to act alone Complexity of situations Innovation Efficiency Ethical and normative reasons Always involve power

Learning What Reflecting on current/past actions and context in order to improve future actions Capacity to be adaptive and responsive to opportunities, changes and crises Considerations How do power and conflict affect learning? How can we accommodate power and conflict in the facilitation of learning oriented partnerships and MSPs?

Levels of Learning Social Learning = facilitated social (institutional) change based on collective learning processes, democratic participation and empowerment Individual Learning Organizational / Group Learning Social Learning MSPs contribute to Social Learning

Multi-stakeholder Processes A process that brings different stakeholders together with the objective of improving a situation in which there are common or conflicting interests. The emphasis is on participatory and learning-oriented processes of social change.

Characteristics of a ‘MSP’  Focused on a situation to improve (“problem”)  Involves stakeholders with a common (but often conflicting) interests  Has a clear process and time frame  Has agreed rules about cooperation  Involves stakeholders in learning processes (not just negotiation)  Deals consciously with power and conflict  Integrates ‘bottom up’ and ‘top down’ approaches  Works across different sectors and scales  Engages with institutional change

Setting Up Learning – Monitoring and Adapting (reflect) Planning Strategically (plan) Implementing and Managing (act) Process Model for MSP interventions

A Competency Framework for Facilitating MSP Ensuring supportive institutions Developing personal communicatio n leadership and facilitation capacities Understanding theoretical foundations Creating interactive learning processes Facilitating MSPs