02/17/2016
MOPC is pleased to announce the release of the Final Report of the MA Municipal Conflict Resolution Needs Assessment Study commissioned by the MA Legislature in the FY 2015 state budget. You can download the Full Report here http://scholarworks.umb.edu/mopc_pubs/14/, and the Executive Summary here http://tinyurl.com/jbx5wzw. For a full overview of the study, please click here https://www.umb.edu/mopc/needs. The study was a multi-year effort led by MOPC, with assistance from MOPC affiliate practitioners, public officials, university leaders and graduate students.
The study was commissioned in outside section 204 in the FY 2015 State Budget, and was a unique combination of needs assessment and assets mapping. While needs assessment identified gaps in results, assets mapping identified existing resources and strengths that can be leveraged to provide solutions to issues. Although these two processes can be complementary, they had rarely been combined prior to this study.
Before commencing the assessment, MOPC formed a core committee of experienced advisors in municipal government with access to major stakeholder groups to guide the study. Data collection was carried out through three statewide surveys; eight regional focus groups and eighteen interviews. The first needs assessment online survey collected 226 responses. The second survey collected 36 responses as feedback on the Interim Report released in January 2015. Fifty-one municipal officials participated in the eight focus group discussions held in Pittsfield, Taunton, Newton, Shrewsbury, Greenfield, Holyoke, Boston and Orleans. The 18 semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with experienced municipal officials, other regional and state government leaders as well as members of constituent groups.
Subsequently, an 11-member Solution Strategies Group (SSG) deliberated, prioritized and refined the findings and recommendations. A third statewide survey was launched to obtain broad input on the prioritized findings and recommendations, which resulted in 380 survey responses. MOPC formed a committee of prominent scholars and academics to review the study, which included experts from the fields of public policy, conflict resolution and needs assessment.
The study documents critical needs of Massachusetts municipalities and communities for conflict resolution skills and resources to prevent and manage destructive public conflicts that are undermining trust in government, promoting incivility, causing financial costs to communities, and discouraging citizens from participating in public service.
The study recommends a review of state laws and regulations that create conflict for communities, an expansion of training and education for municipal officials and managers to include conflict resolution and leadership skills, and the establishment of a state-sponsored technical assistance grant program to help municipal leaders convene conflict resolution and public engagement processes and gain access to online tools and technology for broadening public participation in community problem-solving.
MOPC is currently seeking resources to implement components of two out of the three final recommendations: a public collaboration institute in furtherance of the recommendation for institutionalizing conflict resolution training and education for municipal officials, and a municipal conflict resolution technical assistance grant program in furtherance of the recommendation to provide expert technical assistance and tools to municipalities for conflict resolution and public engagement projects.
The destructive public conflicts documented in this study caused dysfunction and harm to Massachusetts local governments and communities. The report documents how municipal officials are managing conflicts and the impact of current approaches to dealing with destructive public conflict. The needs th…
