DirtyStuff I

SCENARIO:

Exposure to "Dirty Stuff" in the industrial workplace is an issue of major concern to three coalitions representing environmental organizations, industry groups, and labor unions. During past hearings the divergence in their views has become public knowledge. Congress has responded by passing a law requiring The Agency to take action. The Agency, called in a consultant to interview leaders of the concerned coalitions, and draft a proposed agreement. The coalitions and Agency leaders are about to meet to review the draft. The parties will discuss the acceptable levels of risk, the quality of cleaning techniques, and monitoring and evaluation of the cleaning procedures. A neutral party has been asked to help facilitate the meeting

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

• This is a four-party multi-issue facilitated negotiation simulation involving the drafting of a proposed environmental regulation. It emphasizes the use of active facilitation and examines the issues encountered by neutrals when their role is not well understood by the principal parties.

• The range of possible agreements is wide; by comparing agreements, the usefulness of generating options should emerge.

• It is interesting to observe and discuss the role of the facilitator. The facilitator's instructions are rather vague; therefore, the role may develop into either a mediator's role; a process manager's role; or the parties may choose not to have the facilitator take part in the negotiations at all.

• The usefulness of a Single Negotiating Text is illustrated. This gives parties a focal point for discussion and a tool for recording the evolving agreement. This can clarify differences, and help parties structure packages of trade-offs more creatively.

• The design of the meeting is created by the players. How the discussions are initiated and what process is chosen to redraft the agreement is up to the parties. They can either set a cooperative or a competitive tone.

 

MECHANICS:

This exercise is written to include five roles; however, more than one player may be assigned to any role. Reading in preparation for the role play takes 10-15 minutes. Parties having the same roles caucus to strategize prior to beginning the actual negotiation (approximately 20 minutes). Review of the draft should run for 60-90 minutes. Debriefing requires at least 45 minutes to compare and discuss the outcomes. A table for 5 is recommended. Private breakout rooms are useful but not critical to this simulation.

NOTE: The game manager should meet briefly with the facilitators before the negotiation to make sure they understand their responsibilities.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

• General Information

• Draft of the Proposed Rule

• Fact about DirtyStuff Cleanup Technologies

 

Role Specific:

• Confidential Advice to:

• Agency Negotiator

• Environmental Coalition Negotiator

• Industry Negotiator

• Labor Negotiator

• Facilitator

 

Teacher's Package:

• All of the above

 

KEYWORDS

Negotiated rule-making; simple text negotiation; facilitation; science-intensive policy disputes; using contingent agreements to cope with scientific uncertainty

 

THEMES:

Agenda control; Assisted v. Non-assisted negotiations; Bluffing; Caucusing; Coalitions; Communication; Competition v. Cooperation; Compliance; Consensus building; Constituents; Creativity; Decision analysis; Distributional dispute; Drafting; Fairness; Group process; Information exchange; Interest analysis; Issue control; Joint gains; legitimacy; Meaning of "success"; Mediation, entry; Meeting design; Objective criteria; One-text procedure; Options, generating; Packaging; Partisan perceptions; Public opinion; Relationship; Risk aversion; Yesable propositions

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

• Dirty Stuff II

• Dioxin – Waste to Energy

• Teflex Products

• The Carson Extension

DirtyStuff I Attributes

Time required:	2-3 hours
Number of participants:	5
Teams involved:	No
Agent present:	Non-lawyer
Neutral third party present:	Facilitator
Scoreable:	Yes
Teaching notes available:	No
Non-English version available:	Bulgarian, Spanish, Portuguese