Community Based College Education: A Model for Resolving Conflicts in Natural Resource Management

At the time of this study, Sir Sandford Fleming College’s (Lindsay, Ontario, Canada) Ecosystem Management (EM) diploma program offered two mandatory third year college community based (CCB) courses. These team-based courses were designed to promote an understanding of scientific methodology and to refine field research and team skills. Although CCB curriculum entailed workgroups consisting of students (two to three), an EM agent (i.e., from the community), and a faculty member, it offered no formal training in collaboration or natural resource conflict resolution; nevertheless, these were expected outcomes. Through this descriptive study, the authors sought to comprehend the shared and unique views of the CCB curriculum in terms of its contribution, if any, in the preparation of individuals to resolve natural resource conflict through collaboration for ecohealth (referred to as NRCE herein). The key finding indicated that the CCB curriculum required moderate change to help individuals prepare for NRCE. The primary finding suggests the introduction of a preparatory CCB course (i.e., replacing the fall semester CCB course), which focuses on: (a) teams, collaboration, conflict, and participation; (b) the roles of the participants (students, agents, and faculty); and (c) assessment of the individuals (i.e., in terms of previous related experiences). This new course would also provide opportunities for the administrators to ensure that resources (i.e., human and other), time, and the infrastructure (i.e., facilities and technology) required for each team project in the subsequent CCB course are available, efficient, and adequate. Additionally, secondary curriculum changes were recommended for the preparation of individuals to resolve natural resource conflict through collaboration for ecohealth.