In this special bonus episode, we seek to bring together the subjects of our first two arcs, trust and power, and look at how they might concretely manifest in the bid to create social change. We are guided through this discussion by Dr. Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Susskind shares how both trust and power play out in his work to build collaborative problem-solving processes and how he approaches both concepts.
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Dr. Lawrence Susskind is the Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and his research interests focus on the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution, the practice of public engagement in local decision-making, cybersecurity for critical urban infrastructure, entrepreneurial negotiation, global environmental treaty-making, the resolution of science-intensive policy disputes, renewable energy policy, water equity in older American cities, climate change adaptation, socially-responsible real estate development and the land claims of Indigenous Peoples. Professor Susskind is the author or co-author of twenty books including, most recently, Environmental Problem-Solving (Anthem), Managing Climate Risks in Coastal Communities: Strategies for Engagement, Readiness and Adaptation (Anthem), the second edition of Environmental Diplomacy (Oxford Press), Good for You, Great for Me (Public Affairs Press), Water Diplomacy (Resources for the Future), Built to Win (Harvard Business School Publishing), Multiparty Negotiation (Sage), Breaking Robert's Rules (Oxford), The Consensus Building Handbook (Sage), and Dealing with An Angry Public (Free Press).
Professor Susskind is Director of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative (scienceimpact.mit.edu). He is Founder of the Consensus Building Institute, a Cambridge-based not-for-profit company that provides mediation services in complex resource management disputes around the world. He also was one of the Co-founders of the interuniversity Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, where he now directs the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, serves as Vice Chair for Instruction, and leads PON’s Master Classes in Negotiation. He is the recipient of ACSP’s prestigious Educator of the Year Award and recipient of MIT’s Award for Digital Instruction. MIT Administration recently named Professor Susskind as MIT's representative to the New America Foundation's Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN).
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While Dr. Susskind's CV is beyond extensive, these pieces might help the reader understand how he grapples with trust and power:
Susskind, L., & Field, P. (1996). Dealing with an angry public: The mutual gains approach to resolving disputes. Simon and Schuster.
Susskind, L. E., McKearnen, S., & Thomas-Lamar, J. (1999). The consensus building handbook: A comprehensive guide to reaching agreement. Sage publications.
Susskind, L. E., & Ali, S. H. (2014). Environmental diplomacy: Negotiating more effective global agreements. Oxford University Press.
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The Social Science for Public Good Podcast is a project of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance and VT Publishing intended to make social science theories accessible and available to individuals and organizations seeking to promote social change.
Music: Purple-planet.com