Training Program Overview

Understanding Environmental Problems is a free, interactive online training program in the "framing" of environmental conflicts. We present a hypothetical case study of Silver County, a region of the country that is experiencing rapid growth and development. We provide the background, history, current debates and disputes, and the major stakeholders and personalities in the conflict to give a comprehensive view of the positions, interests, and arguments for and against growth and development. These arguments intersect numerous environmental issues and confront many key issues in conflict resolution, regional and community planning, forest and ecosystem management, urban sociology, and social psychology. It provides an invaluable resource for high school or college teachers, educators, planners, or those in the conflict resolution field.

This training program is designed to introduce everyday citizens, students, college instructors, high school teachers, educators, conflict resolution practitioners, researchers, community groups, business leaders, and policy makers to the concept of framing and its role in intractable environmental policy conflicts. This site can be used in several ways and in multiple settings, and can be tailored to fit your particular setting and timeframe (from one hour to several):

Event/ Activity Timeframe
Conflict resolution training or classroom programs on framing or conflict assessment 3 hours or spread over several classes
College term papers or research projects  Spread over several days or weeks
Labs or hands-on classroom exercises 2-3 hours
Public workshops on the environment, planning, policy, or growth management 2 hours to a full-day workshop
Town or community meetings 1-3 hours
Individuals exploring the site for personal knowledge 1-4 hours

This site will take individual users or an entire group through the challenging and complex processes of understanding difficult environmental disputes and can be used as a do-it-yourself mini-course, presented to larger groups or classes by a teacher or facilitator (including group discussion), or implemented into a role-playing scenario.

Users will read the scenario of one particular conflict surrounding growth and development of an environmentally sensitive region called Silver County. By becoming familiar with the various roles, personalities, and interest groups characterizing the conflict, those navigating the site will learn about how these various individuals and groups "frame" possible outcomes and processes, opposing parties, and even their own roles in the dispute.

The training module is designed to help the student understand the theoretical foundations of framing, its psychological functions and its impact on conflict dynamics. After completing this set of activities, it is our goal that students and other users will have gained the practical knowledge informing the practice of frame recognition and analysis. In addition, they will be able to achieve a more complex understanding of the interconnecting social, economic, legislative, and fiscal variables that influence environmental policy outcomes.

Please view our recommendations for using this site.


Also available: General Environmental Dispute Simulation

Copyright © 2003-2005 Environmental Framing Consortium

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More detailed information, training opportunities, and information about our book,
Making Sense of Intractable Environmental Conflicts, is available from the Consortium.