Mission and Vision
The mission of the William D. Ruckelshaus Center is to act as a neutral resource for collaborative problem solving in the State of Washington and Pacific Northwest. The Center provides expertise to improve the quality and availability of voluntary collaborative approaches for policy development and multi-party dispute resolution.
The Center is a joint effort of Washington’s two research universities and was developed in response to requests from community leaders. Building on the unique strengths of the two institutions, the Center is dedicated to assisting public, private, tribal, non-profit and other community leaders in their efforts to build consensus and resolve conflicts around difficult public policy issues. The Center also advances the teaching and research missions of the two universities by bringing real-world policy issue to the campuses.
The Center is hosted at the University of Washington at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and at Washington State University by WSU Extension. It is guided by an advisory board of prominent local, state and regional leaders representing a broad range of constituencies and geographic locations. The board is chaired by William Ruckelshaus.
The Center envisions a future in which governmental leaders, policy makers, stakeholders and citizens in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest routinely employ the tools of collaborative decision making to design, conduct and implement successful public policy processes.
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Updated on January 23, 2012
Announcements
eNews Fall 2011
The Center has published the Fall 2011 issues of its electronic newsletter. read more
Aviation Biofuels
The Center has been tapped by researchers from WSU, UW and other institutions to provide facilitation and other services for a five year, $40 million project to explore aviation biofuels.
read more
Ruckelshaus Oral History
Dr. Douglas Brinkley recently interviewed Bill Ruckelshaus to create an oral history of Bill's life and remarkable contributions to public service, corporate leadership and collaborative policy. Click on these links to watch the oral history on TVW, a media availability on this project, or to read Crosscut. and Washington State Magazine articles or UW and WSU media releases.
Agriculture and Critical Areas
Legislation implementing the Agriculture and Critical Areas Voluntary Stewardship Program (ESHB 1886) passed the House and Senate in April, and was signed into law by the Governor on May 16. read more