From the University of Washington Tacoma’s Puget Sound institute and TVW comes the film “Finding Common Ground: Collaborative Leadership in Washington State.”
Intense conflicts over natural resources — from fish to timber wars — often grab the headlines, but what happens after the dust settles? How do you overcome divisions and move forward with fair and beneficial policies? “Finding Common Ground” is a timely documentary that tells the story of people with diverse interests overcoming differences to resolve some of the most complex conservation challenges in the Pacific Northwest.
The film will premiere this October with preview screenings at four locations in Washington before it airs this winter on the public affairs network TVW. Immediately following each screening, the filmmakers will join a panel discussion with people interviewed in the film to take questions from the audience.
The goal of the documentary is to capture the unique, 50-year history of collaborative decision-making for natural resources in Washington. The story begins in the 1970s with negotiations to establish state and tribal co-management of salmon and steelhead fisheries following the Boldt decision to uphold tribal fishing rights. “Finding Common Ground” then brings the history of many groundbreaking natural resource management outcomes to life through the voices of those who helped shaped them.
As Marc Gerzon (President of the Mediators Foundation and author of The Reunited States of America) said, “The natural resource collaboration that unfolded in Washington holds many keys to America’s future. Let us learn as much as we can from this remarkable history.”
Michael Kern, executive producer and content co-producer of the film, says another goal of the film is to inspire and foster collaborative leadership in the future.
“The challenges we face as a society are complex. Leaders must have collaborative skills to navigate conflict, understand interdependencies, and build relationships. The lessons from 50 years of collaborative leadership in Washington need to be appreciated, adapted and applied to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. The next phase of the Project will build on this history, to do just that.”
The film is an outgrowth of the Collaborative Leadership Project based at the Puget Sound Institute and the University of Washington Tacoma Center for Urban Waters. For the past two years, the project, led by Kern, has been gathering oral histories from leaders across Washington state. Those who were interviewed represent federal, tribal, state, local government; mediators and facilitators; natural resource, agriculture, and other private sector businesses; as well as scientists and educators. Nearly 60 interviews have been recorded and archived at as part of the project.
“Finding Common Ground” will be shown at the following locations and dates:
Tacoma, WA – October 17, 2024
TIME: 5:00p reception | 6:00p screening
LOCATION: Carwein Auditorium (KEY102), University of Washington Tacoma, 1754 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA 98513
Everett, WA – October 28, 2024
TIME: 5:00p reception | 6:00p screening
LOCATION: Snohomish County Campus, 1st Floor Meeting Rooms, 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Everett WA 98201
Seattle, WA – October 30, 2024
TIME: 5:00p reception | 6:00p screening
LOCATION: Alder Auditorium, University of Washington, 1310 NE 40th St, Seattle, WA 98105
Toppenish, WA – November 4, 2024
TIME: 1:00p screening | 3:00p reception
LOCATION: Yakama Nation Museum & Cultural Center, Heritage Theater, Spiel-yi Loop, Toppenish, WA 98948
Registration for the free screenings (required at least two weeks in advance), a trailer of the film, and the oral history archives are available at https://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/collaborative-leadership-project/.
For more information or to schedule interviews about the project, contact:
Michael Kern
Director of Special Projects, Puget Sound Institute
mkern @ uw.edu
206.601.4766
Renee Radcliff Sinclair
President | CEO of TVW
renee @ tvw.org
360.529.5315
The Collaborative Leadership Project is supported by more than 20 diverse sponsors including:
Anchor QEA, Eric Camplin, Ann Goos, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Lummi Nation, Nisqually Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound Institute, Puyallup Tribe Charitable Trust, Seattle City Light, Sequoia Foundation, Squaxin Island Tribe, Suquamish Tribe/Suquamish Foundation, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, City of Tacoma Environmental Services, The Tulalip Tribes, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State University Extension CED, and William D. Ruckelshaus Center
Special thanks to the Project’s Tribal Advisory Committee which includes Willie Frank III and David Troutt from the Nisqually Tribe, Doreen Maloney and Scott Schuyler from the Upper Skagit Tribe, Paul Ward from the Yakama Nation, Robert Whitener from the Squaxin Island Tribe, and Shawn Yanity from the Stillaguamish Tribe.