Last updated on Jul 20, 2024

You're balancing conflicting sustainability priorities from stakeholders. How can you find common ground?

When you're navigating the complex terrain of environmental design, finding a balance among the diverse sustainability priorities of stakeholders can be a daunting task. You face a unique challenge: to harmonize the environmental, economic, and social aspirations of various groups, each with their own vision of what sustainability means. It's a delicate balancing act, requiring you to be both a skilled negotiator and an innovative designer, all while keeping the planet's wellbeing at the forefront. Understanding that compromise is not just inevitable but necessary, your role becomes that of a mediator, striving to find common ground where all parties feel their values are acknowledged and integrated into the final design.

1 Engage Early

Initiating dialogue with stakeholders at the earliest stage is crucial. By doing so, you allow for a broader range of perspectives and concerns to surface before any concrete decisions are made. This proactive approach not only helps in identifying potential conflicts early on but also sets the stage for collaborative problem-solving. Engaging stakeholders early creates a sense of ownership and investment in the project, which can lead to more committed and sustainable outcomes.

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Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Leading and Educating in the Age of Survivability
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Shared development of guiding principles and goals is a must. The process itself will help bond the team together and work towards consensus. Consensus is not agreement. It is a point at which everyone can live with the proposed solutions.

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2 Prioritize Goals

With all stakeholders at the table, your next move is to facilitate the prioritization of sustainability goals. This often involves tough conversations where trade-offs are made clear, and the impacts of various choices are openly discussed. Your role is to guide stakeholders towards a shared vision that aligns with the most critical sustainability objectives, ensuring that the most significant environmental benefits are not sacrificed for lesser gains.

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Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Leading and Educating in the Age of Survivability
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Trade offs is a losing proposition. Better to fund a new, third way to propel the group out of the struggle. This is not always possible but getting the team to brainstorm new solutions rather just digging in can sometimes work.

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3 Explore Alternatives

When conflicts arise, exploring alternative solutions becomes key. You'll need to think outside the box, proposing innovative design options that might meet the diverse needs of stakeholders in ways they hadn't considered. This is where your expertise in environmental design shines, as you present creative yet practical alternatives that push the boundaries of traditional sustainability practices.

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Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Leading and Educating in the Age of Survivability
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See my previous answer. I agree with this one. Don’t limit the lens to just environmental and consider conducting a scenario planning exercise to get people out their shell.

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4 Build Consensus

Building consensus is often about finding the sweet spot between competing interests. By fostering open communication and ensuring that each stakeholder's voice is heard and respected, you can help build a collective agreement. This process may involve compromise, but it also opens up opportunities for stakeholders to understand each other's positions and work towards a solution that everyone can support.

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Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Leading and Educating in the Age of Survivability
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Wrong. Support is too strong a word. With a. Diverse group sometimes it just has to be good enough that there are no paramount objectives to ten propose solution. Dynamic governance is a good model for consensus building.

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Dr Saeed Oluwadipe CEnv MCIWM

Waste Planning and Resource Specialist at Westminster City Council | Circular Economy | Sustainability | Climate Change | Operational Waste Strategies | Environmental Permitting | Environmental Auditing
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Build consensus by promoting shared objectives among the stakeholders. This can be achieved using 3 criteria. Choose an option that will favour all the stakeholders . The option that will 1. give best value for money, 2. improve environment performance, and 3. compliance with relevant regulations. 1.Value for money will save cost, enhance quality and increase market competitiveness. 2. Improved Environmental performance will reduce carbon footprint, reduce waste, enhance circular economy, energy and water use efficiency and provision of green infrastructure. 3. Regulatory compliance will ensure compliance with all regulations around ESG and other applicable regulations. Save litigation costs, and good business image.

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5 Implement Solutions

Once consensus is reached, it's time to implement the agreed-upon solutions. This stage involves careful planning and coordination to ensure that the sustainability goals are integrated into the design effectively. Your role is to oversee the implementation process, making sure that each step is in line with the stakeholders' agreement and that the project stays true to its sustainability objectives.

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Rob Fleming, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Leading and Educating in the Age of Survivability
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Wrong. Build a prototype and conduct a limited test prior to full implementation. This is the biggest and costliest mistake possible. Nets to have lots of small fails prior to a big success .

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6 Monitor Progress

Finally, setting up mechanisms to monitor the progress of the environmental design project is essential. Regular check-ins with stakeholders can help ensure that the project remains on track and that any deviations from the sustainability goals are addressed promptly. Monitoring progress allows for continuous improvement and adaptation, which is vital in the ever-evolving field of sustainability.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Dr Prachi Jain

Founder @ Climate Corporate Solutions II PhD II Sustainable Consultant II Strategist II Speaker II Educator II Legal Advisor
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To develop a unified plan, start by creating an integrated sustainability strategy that incorporates the critical priorities of all stakeholders. This ensures that everyone’s concerns and objectives are considered. Next, create a clear roadmap that outlines how these various priorities will be addressed and implemented over time. This roadmap should provide a detailed timeline and actionable steps, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the process. By doing so, you can align the efforts of all stakeholders towards common sustainability goals, fostering collaboration and commitment.

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You're balancing conflicting sustainability priorities from stakeholders. How can you find common ground?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Engage Early

2 Prioritize Goals

3 Explore Alternatives

4 Build Consensus

5 Implement Solutions

6 Monitor Progress

7 Here’s what else to consider

Environmental Design

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You're balancing conflicting sustainability priorities from stakeholders. How can you find common ground?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Engage Early

2 Prioritize Goals

3 Explore Alternatives

4 Build Consensus

5 Implement Solutions

6 Monitor Progress

7 Here’s what else to consider

Environmental Design

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