#26 Danya Rumore: The Skill of Conflict
Why can’t we all just get along?
According to Dr. Danya Rumore, we can. In a time of great division, both in the United States and abroad, we tend to become positional and put up our walls. So in this episode, we talk about how to attack problems instead of people, avoid zero-sum thinking, and manage our needs to come together in a time marked by cancel culture, aggression, and a breakdown of fruitful dialogue. We even dive into the mass migration to the rural Mountain West and how income inequality, housing affordability, and water issues necessitate greater skills in conflict and dialogue.
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Episode Audio
“Conversation is the most effective technology we have. It is only through that technology that we will solve our big societal challenges.”
Danya Rumore, Ph.D., is the Director of the Wallace Stegner Center Environmental Dispute Resolution (EDR) Program, a Research Associate Professor in the S.J. Quinney College of Law, and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah. Danya’s work and research focus on supporting collaborative decision-making and stakeholder engagement in the context of environmental and public policy issues. She particularly focuses on science-intensive environmental challenges, gateway and natural amenity region planning concerns, and public lands management.
Danya teaches academic and professional courses on collaboration, negotiation, dispute resolution, facilitation, and effective communication, and has trained hundreds of professionals working in government agencies, NGOs, industry organizations, consultancies, and academic organizations across the U.S. and internationally. Danya was the 2018 recipient of the Rob Williams Award for Emerging Environment and Public Policy Leaders. She completed her doctorate in Environmental Policy and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was the Assistant Director of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative. She also holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Geography from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Economics from Oregon State University. Danya is the Founder and a Co-Director of the Gateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative.
Related Links:
Environmental Dispute Resolution Program website
EDR BlogGateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative website
Free and publicly available EDR Program tools and resources:
Short video on the Fundamentals of Conflict and Collaboration
Collaboration Key Concepts handout
Short video on Interests vs. Positions
Situation Assessment 101 handout