Claudette Robey

Training Needs of Coastal Resources Decision Makers in Ohio's Lake Erie Basin

This article describes results from a study focused on informational and knowledge needs of local coastal resources decision makers in the Ohio Lake Erie basin. New information was obtained through a series of focus groups of local decision makers and key training providers in the basin. The results suggest that training providers and local coastal resources decision makers have differing perceptions of knowledge and information needs and training venues. The results suggest a role for state and federal agency training providers as coordinators and facilitators of an enhanced learning network among decision makers, including support of an information clearinghouse, adoption of appropriate e-based learning modalities, and regionally based learning and practice networks to improve the function of the training market to meet local decision maker needs.

The Current Coastal Resource Management Training Market in Ohio's Lake Erie Basin

This article describes research to characterize the current market for coastal resource training programs in the Ohio Lake Erie basin, which had not been comprehensively assessed previously. Identification of this diffuse market is challenging, as it was created by a wide range of organizations across a large geography. A telephone survey method was used to gather data. Results suggest that the market for coastal resources management training programs in Ohio reflects provider understanding of the knowledge base required for effective coastal resource management, the geographic and institutional distribution of provider responsibilities, and dominant population and economic base characteristics across the basin. The articles results and methodology regarding subfederal training providers in Ohio may be a model for other states in the Great Lakes basin and for training providers in other coastal areas.

COMMENTARY: The Use of Focus Groups for Design and Implementation of Collaborative Environmental Administrative Programs: A Comparison of Two State-Level Processes in Ohio

Development and implementation of administrative programs are important steps in the process of change through public law and policy. These programs set the specific mechanisms that will be used to carry out the intent of the law or policy as best an agency can determine. Administrative personnel may involve the general public and stakeholders in program development and implementation in order to improve program design, increasingly used as part of collaborative environmental management strategies. This article examines the use of focus groups as a stakeholder participation method in collaborative program development and implementation processes in two different environmentally-oriented agency programs at the state level in Ohio—the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund of the Ohio Department of Development, and the Ohio Coastal Resources Management Training Program of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, NOAA, and the Ohio Sea Grant Program. The comparison confirms three categories of benefits in using focus groups: better program development and implementation through more in-depth and nuanced information from stakeholders, an enhanced administrative and civic capacity through development of a shared knowledge base, and an enhanced sense of legitimacy for the program among future program beneficiaries. The comparison also identified some constraints and challenges for using focus groups, including the importance of skilled facilitators with substantive knowledge of the environmental context of the program development process and the skills to resolve contentious stakeholder interactions when the processes are distributive in nature.