Facilitation Basics for Coastal Managers (February 5, 2025)

Facilitation Basics for Coastal Managers

Imagine a world where meetings are effective, productive, and efficient.

Tuesday, February 5, 2025
9:00am – 4:30pm

Duration: This is one-day workshop with two date options on February 4^th or 5^th .

Target Audience: Those responsible for facilitating meetings including,  local officials, state and federal agency staff, municipal boards and committees, non-profit organizations, community-based groups.

This workshop is reserved for invited project partners and registration is not open to the public at this time. If Facilitation Basics would support you in your coastal management roll and you’re interested in participating, please reach out to kristen.weir@mass.gov to be added to the waitlist. 

Description: This course provides tools to design and implement productive meetings. Participants will learn basic facilitation skills and techniques for dealing with disruptive behaviors. Class time is provided to practice using tools and skills to plan and facilitate meetings that accomplish objectives while minimizing conflict. Participants at every level are welcome, since the new skills will be useful even when attending, but not running, a meeting.

Learning Outcomes:

• Facilitate meetings effectively
• Use appropriate process tools and techniques to reach the meeting objectives
• Identify disruptive behaviors in group processes and practice strategies to deal with them

Registration: Please register by January 29, 2025. There is no charge to attend this workshop, however registration is required as space is limited.  (Walk-ins cannot be accommodated.)

Meet the Trainers:

Dani Boudreau (Danielle.Boudreau@noaa.gov) has over a decade of experience working on coastal management and climate resilience for the government, nonprofit, academic, and private sectors. Her diverse experience gives her unique insight into how to foster strategic partnerships to implement multi-beneficial adaptation solutions for coastal communities. As part of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, Dani works to advance approaches for connecting science to actionable decision-making through facilitation, training, and partnership engagement. Previously, Dani worked for NOAA’s Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve where she led the Resilience Initiative to link leaders, scientists, and communities to the best-available adaptation planning tools and management practices. Dani holds a master’s in environmental management from Duke University and a bachelor’s in coastal and marine policy from the University of Rhode Island.

Lauren Bissonnette (Lauren.Bissonnette@noaa.gov) is a resilience engagement specialist for NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, based in Newport, Rhode Island. In her role, she collaborates with partners and coastal practitioners nationwide to build capacity for resilience to coastal inundation. Lauren serves as a community of practice coordinator, fostering a network of adaptation and coastal flooding experts to exchange and learn from reliable, science-based information to enhance community resilience to inundation hazards. With a diverse background spanning private, non-profit, and academic sectors, Lauren brings expertise in facilitation, engagement, science communication, workshop design, and meeting planning for diverse audiences. Lauren holds a master of arts in marine affairs with a graduate certificate in science writing and rhetoric from the University of Rhode Island, and a bachelor of science in biology/environmental biology from the University of Vermont.

This workshop was developed for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) extension and education professionals by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, with input and assistance from the NOAA National Sea Grant Office and the NOAA Estuarine Reserves Division.

Questions? Please contact Kristen Weir, Coastal Training Program Coordinator at kristen.weir@mass.gov.

Co-Sponsors:  Waquoit Bay NERR, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, MA Department of Conservation & Recreation, and Friends of the Waquoit Bay Reserve