“talk than do,” who are more interested in the “how to” than the
hoped-for result.
What does this have to do with the ranchers, environmental advo-
cates, loggers and, especially, the extension professionals in the
video you just watched about the Oregon Watershed Improvement
Coalition (OWIC), and what does it have to do with Fielding’s analy-
sis of the coalition-building process and roles for extension in that
process?
I believe “process backlash” represents a significant danger to
proponents of extension involvement in coalitions that promote
learning and problem solving. But, before I elaborate, let me explain
that I have not done studies of coalitions. I am a professional com-
municator, a listener and an observer, as anyone in my field must
be.
I am here today for two reasons. First, because I got “up close and
personal” with OWIC members while co-producing the video about
the coalition. For almost a year, I immersed myself in the history
and inter workings of this coalition, which happens to be the type
that allows people who are usually at odds to educate one another.
Second, I am here because for three years or so I have been a mem-
ber of the leadership team of the Oregon State University Extension
Service’s Public Issues Education Initiative. In that capacity I have
been, in a sense, working between public policy education spe-
cialists like many of you and county extension agents and area spe-
cialists. Let me be honest. That is an ugly place, at times.
I imagine many of you are experts on group processes. I do not
know about your states, but in Oregon I have seen county extension
agents cringe when you use the word “process.” I shudder to think
what the reaction of those agents might be if, with no tip-toeing into
the topic, Fielding started delivering his presentation about how
coalition building is a “flexible iterative process rather than a linear
sequence of events,” and about the roles these agents could play in
various phases and simultaneous stages.
Academics want data. I do not have any. But my guess is that the
majority of county agents are quite familiar with the importance of
tackling assignments in a systematic way, of using a sound process.
What they also are familiar with, I suspect, is that a significant
number of potential coalition members have little tolerance for “the
government” leading them, or even being involved with them, in
anything.
Now, I realize lots of extension specialists and agents appreciate
how important the process is in building a coalition. They probably
grumble about others who “shoot from the hip,” hitting the wrong
targets (perhaps wounding innocent bystanders and inciting riotous
group behavior). But, frankly, my impression is that public policy
specialists do a much better job of communicating with the “process-
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