Keys to Collaboration

Posted by jesikah maria ross

February 5, 2007

Collaboration has been on my mind a whole lot lately.

Sure, it is part of my daily practice as co-director of this project, Saving The Sierra: Voices of Conservation In Action. My project partner Catherine Stifter and i constantly dialog about the vision of the project and how we will move towards it, including who will do what, how, and when. That's one level of collaboration to achieve a shared goal.

Another relates to our project partners--The Sierra Fund, The Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies at Sierra College. Catherine and I work with them regularly to set direction for the project and discuss how to get there, not to mention how we can garner resources to meet our objectives.

Then there are our project advisors, fabulous folks from around the state and country who have agreed to join with us to use their expertise, experiences, and networks to help make our project a success. But what really grips me are the folks who are collaborating in this project through their participation in our project activities, like sharing a story with us through our mobile storybooth, trading ideas on the blog, or doing interviews for our radio programs.

The other aspect of collaboration which greatly inspires me are the folks working at the dirt level, often across geographic, class, and cultural divides, to safeguard their rural way of life and the landscapes they love in the Sierra. Working together, especially when you come from different backgrounds, interests, ages, and resources isn't easy. Sometimes it's not pretty. But it is usually the way to get the best result, if "best" means an outcome that everyone can live with and supports.

Seems like collaboration is the way forward to ensure a sustainable way of life and environmental integrity in the Sierra.

I'm interested to hear what folks have to say about collaboration across differences in the Sierra. Have you done it? What worked? What would you do differently?

Do tell.