Provided by Research Papers in Economics
DEVELOPING COLLABORATION IN RURAL
POLICY: LESSONS FROM A STATE RURAL
DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
Richard L. Gardner
Idaho Rural Development Council
Collaboration is a much-used word these days. Why? The need for
collaboration is being driven from several directions. Policy issues
are increasingly diverse and are increasingly viewed from a systems,
or holistic, perspective. Words such as integrated, comprehensive,
watershed, and ecosystem are creeping into the planning lexicon.
Framing issues in such a broad way makes strategic sense, but cre-
ates confusion and conflicts among service deliverers with overlap-
ping missions, authorities, programs and service areas.
In addition, budget constraints operating at the local, state and na-
tional levels mean that no single agency can craft effective solutions
to complex problems. This creates a powerful motivation for work-
ing together. Finally, there is renewed interest in making govern-
ment more effective by being more attuned to customer needs. Cit-
izen customers are best served by involving them in decision making
early and often, another reason to forge partnerships.
What is meant by collaboration? It is not cooperation, in which au-
thorities inform others of what they plan to do anyway. Nor is it co-
ordination, in which authorities share information and alter what
they plan to do anyway to mesh with what others intend to do any-
way. Collaboration involves committing decision-making authority
and resources to a group of stakeholders with a shared interest in tak-
ing action on an issue. This is not easy to do. It is risky to voluntarily
relinquish control. In addition, collaborations seek to include all
stakeholders and to respect all viewpoints.
Figure 1 illustrates three planning models (U.S. Department of
Agriculture, p. 7). Note that the interactive model is the dominant
method of public involvement today. Agencies develop plans, hold
public hearings at which they inform citizens and receive their com-
ments, then formulate responses and revise their plan. Decision-
making authority is retained in the agency. In the collaborative
model, the stakeholders come together as a community of interest
and share decision making.
National Rural Development Partnership
State rural development councils (SRDCs) are a modest invest-
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