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• 1. [Article] Factors of Successful Collaboration: Oregon's Watershed Councils as Collaborative Systems

  The public sector, business professionals and organization leaders are among some of the diverse entities increasingly viewing collaboration as a useful, and at times necessary, practice. Collaborative ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Factors of Successful Collaboration: Oregon's Watershed Councils as Collaborative Systems Author: Doherty, Meghan, National Policy Consensus Center Year: 2015 The public sector, business professionals and organization leaders are among some of the diverse entities increasingly viewing collaboration as a useful, and at times necessary, practice. Collaborative systems are networks formed by individuals who repeatedly interact over long time horizons to solve problems and achieve goals they could not on their own. Throughout the academic literature, there are many references to and definitions of collaborative systems or networks, as well as various opinions on what factors enable these systems to be successful. However, these are usually context-specific or limited to the perspective of a certain discipline. Furthermore, empirical literature usually hones in on collaborative projects; networks working together within a predetermined timeframe and towards a specific desired outcome. This research had two objectives. The first was to identify the common factors effecting collaborative performance and possible collaboration benefits from the various academic disciplines and use them to develop a construct for collaborative systems. The project then utilized the rich history of Oregon’s watershed councils as a case study and applied this construct to their boards as they represent a diverse set of collaborative groups that have been in operation for over twenty years. This research measured the identified factors effecting collaborative performance and compared them to the benefits received through a combination of survey questions and outside research, resulting in averaged “factor” and “benefit” scores across all responses as well as for four case study watershed councils. The final step was to use regression analysis to understand the relationship between the factors and collaboration benefits This research developed and tested a construct for collaborative systems by identifying commonly cited factors across varied academic disciples. Through application to Oregon’s watershed councils, this research acquired preliminary data in order to identify the positive relationship between factors and benefits. In addition, it identified opportunities for enhancing watershed council collaborative performance by ranking these factor scores. Further research is needed to expand the application of these findings, as well as to test these factors in other collaborative systems. Title: Factors of Successful Collaboration: Oregon's Watershed Councils as Collaborative Systems Author: Doherty, Meghan, National Policy Consensus Center Year: 2015 The public sector, business professionals and organization leaders are among some of the diverse entities increasingly viewing collaboration as a useful, and at times necessary, practice. Collaborative systems are networks formed by individuals who repeatedly interact over long time horizons to solve problems and achieve goals they could not on their own. Throughout the academic literature, there are many references to and definitions of collaborative systems or networks, as well as various opinions on what factors enable these systems to be successful. However, these are usually context-specific or limited to the perspective of a certain discipline. Furthermore, empirical literature usually hones in on collaborative projects; networks working together within a predetermined timeframe and towards a specific desired outcome. This research had two objectives. The first was to identify the common factors effecting collaborative performance and possible collaboration benefits from the various academic disciplines and use them to develop a construct for collaborative systems. The project then utilized the rich history of Oregon’s watershed councils as a case study and applied this construct to their boards as they represent a diverse set of collaborative groups that have been in operation for over twenty years. This research measured the identified factors effecting collaborative performance and compared them to the benefits received through a combination of survey questions and outside research, resulting in averaged “factor” and “benefit” scores across all responses as well as for four case study watershed councils. The final step was to use regression analysis to understand the relationship between the factors and collaboration benefits This research developed and tested a construct for collaborative systems by identifying commonly cited factors across varied academic disciples. Through application to Oregon’s watershed councils, this research acquired preliminary data in order to identify the positive relationship between factors and benefits. In addition, it identified opportunities for enhancing watershed council collaborative performance by ranking these factor scores. Further research is needed to expand the application of these findings, as well as to test these factors in other collaborative systems. Close

• 2. [Article] Modeling the effectiveness of riparian restoration on stream shading in the Clackamas River Basin

  Rivers and streams within the Clackamas River Basin are not currently meeting water quality standards in terms of temperature. The Clackamas River Basin Council (CRBC) designed a restoration program to ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Modeling the effectiveness of riparian restoration on stream shading in the Clackamas River Basin Author: Barksdale, Rachel Year: 2017 Rivers and streams within the Clackamas River Basin are not currently meeting water quality standards in terms of temperature. The Clackamas River Basin Council (CRBC) designed a restoration program to address the thermal loading on behalf of Portland General Electric (PGE) in which native trees and shrubs are planted along streams to restore riparian canopy cover. Solar radiation can be blocked by restoring canopy cover and is an effective way to provide shade, as well as providing ancillary environmental benefits such as enhanced wildlife habitat and erosion control. Stream and vegetation data were collected at nine sites to model the increase in shade from the restoration plantings. Using DEQ’s Shade-a-lator model, shade was predicted in future scenarios at 10, 20, and 50 years compared to the current baseline condition. Modeling results suggest increases in shade at each site, which will help to mitigate excessive thermal inputs. The predicted scenarios provide a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of CRBC’s restoration program. Title: Modeling the effectiveness of riparian restoration on stream shading in the Clackamas River Basin Author: Barksdale, Rachel Year: 2017 Rivers and streams within the Clackamas River Basin are not currently meeting water quality standards in terms of temperature. The Clackamas River Basin Council (CRBC) designed a restoration program to address the thermal loading on behalf of Portland General Electric (PGE) in which native trees and shrubs are planted along streams to restore riparian canopy cover. Solar radiation can be blocked by restoring canopy cover and is an effective way to provide shade, as well as providing ancillary environmental benefits such as enhanced wildlife habitat and erosion control. Stream and vegetation data were collected at nine sites to model the increase in shade from the restoration plantings. Using DEQ’s Shade-a-lator model, shade was predicted in future scenarios at 10, 20, and 50 years compared to the current baseline condition. Modeling results suggest increases in shade at each site, which will help to mitigate excessive thermal inputs. The predicted scenarios provide a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of CRBC’s restoration program. Close