Roadmap to Resolution: Communities, Government and Corporations Solving Complex Challenges
This project started as the Fernald Community Alliance (FCA) was planning to make a video telling the complete story of the Fernald cleanup and restoration. A previous project by the Department of Energy (DOE) produced “The First Link”, a video covering the history through 2001, the 50th anniversary of the site. This project has evolved considerably and it is now more focused on the Fernald lessons learned as described below:
Roadmap to Resolution: Communities, Government and Corporations Solving Complex Challenges provides the Fernald Community Alliance (FCA) with a vehicle to educate other groups about how productive relationships evolved between government, regulators and community members during the 20+ years of the Fernald cleanup. Obviously, just because something worked at Fernald, does not mean it will work for other locations and challenges. However, we do believe that there are lessons learned from the Fernald experience that may be useful. Ultimately, this project will incorporate a website which includes videos, training sessions both at the Fernald Preserve and at other locations, written materials and focused team-building exercises. Our goal is to provide the tools corporations, grassroots community organizations, universities, and local, state and federal government agencies need to forge trusting, productive relationships. These relationships are integral to successfully solving complex environmental, public health, community planning and resource development challenges.
In 2013, FCA received a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund for Phase One of the project, which involved in depth interviews that describe how such collaborative relationships evolved at Fernald and feedback sessions with our collaborators. Eleven interviews were conducted in 2014 and a video was produced.
The Roadmap to Resolution video can be viewed here,
or on the vimeo website.
Below is a list of documents that may provide additional information and assistance:
- The Community Perspective, Getting started, Principals and Results
- Click to view PDF
- Some Reasons for Success for the Fernald Cleanup and Restoration
- Click to view PDF
Project collaborators include area educators, the Fernald Preserve, the US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, the Fernald Community Health Effects Committee (FCHEC), and the Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH).