COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND ACTION

Abstract: Many contexts evidence chronic tensions between citizens and authorities and groups with each other, overwhelmed institutions, and ongoing contestation of authority and legitimacy. Here, Getting to Yes is not only harder; it is frequently undermined by prevailing systems dynamics. In response, we have advanced a framework for understanding and action to address the challenges of collaborative solution generation in such tumultuous and conflictual places. It is distinctive in its recognition of the inevitable influence of negative systems dynamics and its positioning of even mundane negotiations as iterative exercises in broader world building. It thus situates every collaborative endeavour within the broader web of societal relations; invites negotiators to focus less on agreement and more on the challenges of positive progress within contested spaces; and understands every negotiation process as consensus-based institution building. This repositions our collaborative engagement as the building of a coalition committed to the exercise of non-dominating power.

Keywords: Negotiation, Negotiation pedagogy, Socio-political complexity, Fragile & conflict affected contexts, Collaborative solution generation