The Institute's Goal is:

To assume a leading role and to work with collaborators within, and external to the University to provide assistance and support that fosters informed, participative, democratic and sustainable management of natural (humans, flora and fauna), environmental and cultural resources throughout the Americas.

The Institutes Objectives are:

• To conduct and document economics research on institutional issues related to the development of sustainable ecological-economic (human-natural) systems. This includes both theoretical and action research.
• To develop and/or sponsor/coordinate training programs independently and with collaborators to provide international and domestic constituencies with the theoretical and practical tools necessary for the development of sustainable ecological-economic systems.
• To provide practical assistance to collaborators and constituencies in the form of strategic planning and organizational development for participative and democratic design, development and implementation of sustainable ecological-economic development activities.

The Institute's specific working interests are less developed areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, and rural, natural resource dependent communities in the North America.

The Institute's research is oriented toward the development of knowledge to support training and technical assistance activities. The Institute initiates symposia and sponsors visits of leading scholars and professionals.

Implementation of the Institute's agenda also involves the development of international networks of collaborators (agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, etc.), and trained, technically proficient professionals to assist at the community level. These networks cover North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Australia, with capabilities in French, Spanish and English. 

UN-FAO sponsored formation meeting in Managua, Nicaragua, October 1995

• Invited participants included
 
• Agricultural ministers from all Latin American and Caribbean countries,
• Representatives of many non-governmental organizations,
• APIKAN Indigenous Network - Canadian Indigenous Groups,
• IIRM - only U.S. entity invited.
• IIRM specific commitments/outcomes from Managua:
 
• Strategic planning and organizational design assistance.
• Inclusion as a collaborator with New Mexico State University in the development of an internet accessible "information authority" called LACSA related to participative democracy and sustainable human-natural systems.
• Purpose of LACSA: To provide a common organizational focus for the myriad of on-going efforts attempting to deal with economic security issues within the region, and to prepare for the World Food Summit in Rome, Italy (November 1996).

UN-FAO/YMCA-Latin America sponsored meeting for the Grupo Coordinador de la Sociedad Civil, Los Teques, Venzuela.

• IIRM specific commitments\outcomes from Los Teques:
• IIRM will build and maintain Spanish\French\Portuguese\English WWW page for Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Movement (LACSA) information dissemination,
• IIRM will develop a protocol for the conduct of the next meeting of the non-governmental entities - Paraguay, July 1996.
• IIRM will develop a proposal for a regional strategic planning initiative for non-governmental entities in LACSA countries
• Reinforced commitment from LACSA non-governmental entities to collaborate with New Mexico State University in development of the "information authority".
• Declaration from the Asuncion Meeting of LACSA.

• Orientation to Search Conference and Participative Design Workshop. Invited to conduct 2 day orientation to strategic planning for turbulent environments (Search Conference) and participative and democratic organizational design (Participative Design Workshop) to Region 9 (17 northeastern states) leadership team, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December 1995. Committed to design and implement strategic program for the region.
• Region 9 Strategic Planning Initiative: Designed and managed Search Conferences for the region:
 
• Ottawa National Forest - December 1995
• Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest - January 1996
• Regional Office - January/Feb 1996
• Allegheny National Forest - March 1996
• Green Mountain/Finger Lakes-White Mountain National Forests - March 1996
• Mark Twain National Forest - April 1996
• Chippewa National Forest - April 1996
• Superior National Forest - April 1996
• Hiawatha-Huron/Manistee National Forests - April 1996
• Hoosier National Forest - April 1996
• Monongahela National Forest - Apr/May 1996
• Region 9 Strategic Planning Consolidation Workshop: The consolidation of the region's individual strategic plans. May 1996
• Region 9 Organizational Redesign Activity
 
• Ottawa National Forest: Designed and managed Participative Design Workshop for complete reorganization of the Forest. Feb/March 1996.

• Search Conference on the Future of Participative Democracy in the Americas: Las Cruces, NM, March 1995. There were approximately 40 invited participants from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, and Equador. IIRM co-sponsored with United States Forest Service and private sector entities.
• Search Conference/Participative Design Workshop Planning event for the Community of Ojinaga, Chihuahua: Ojinaga, Chih. May 1995. Institute staff worked with the community, INIFAP (Mex), Centro de Forestación de las Americas (CEFORA), SWTDI, and WERC to plan event. Institute staff managed the event.

• 2nd Annual Search Conference on the Future of Participative Democracy in the AmericasParticipative Democracy in the Americas: Las Cruces, NM, March 1995. There were approximately 40 invited participants from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, and Equador. Sponsored by private sector entities.
• Hatch Valley Healthier Schools Program, Hatch Valley, NM. Healthier Schools project that focused on determining the underlying principles for comprehensive school health to be prevention and planning for student health and success. The broadly defined state guidelines were narrowed down through a bottom-up comprehensive school health program design. The school district, students, and the community were engaged in a structured task oriented process to appraise and design a locally appropriate program.

• May 30-31: Search Conference for the Future of Groton Community, New York State. Joel Diemer collaborated with Cornell's Family Life Development Center to design and manage a Search Conference for the Groton Community.

• Jan 6-8, 1998: Greater Tucumcari 2000 and Beyond Designed and managed a strategic community planning event with the future of greater Tucumcari, New Mexico as the purpose. Research has demonstrated that the planning community liked the process and outcomes. However, the lack of diffusion and organization hindered the initial implementation. The IIRM used a Participative Design Workshop to get the plans back on track.
• February 17-19, 1998: designed and managed the Department of Interior Field Coordinating Committee (DOI FCC) strategic planning conference. DOI FCC agencies present included: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Biological Resource Division, Department of Energy, Office of Internal Affairs, Office of Environmental Policy Compliance, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Geological Survey. DOI FCC were able to refocus some of their goals toward "do-able" realistic future expectations.
• February 26-28, 1998: Otero County (New Mexico) Comprehensive Plan. The IIRM managed a Search event to design the Comprehensive Plan for Otero County. A broad cross section of Otero County residents and County planning staff came together to paint a common picture of the County they want to live in. The planning community held 7 public briefings at various locations throughout the County to disseminate their work and the process they used to complete it. The plan was turned over to the County Commission on July 27, 1998. The County Commission indicated it will take them 4-6 weeks to review the plan (and all the work included) and public comments. Public workshops to get citizen involvement in implementation and diffusion will begin in early 1999.
• September 17-19, 1998: Formation of the Raton Action Coalition. The IIRM managed a community development planning conference for the City of Raton, NM. The managers used a unique design combining a mini-PD on the tail end of the Search Conference. Early research indicates the planning community are very happy with the process and end products and that the rest of the community is liking the plan.
• Dona Ana County (NM) Youth Initiative: concerned citizens identified using the community reference system came together to develop a proactive strategic plan to address youth issues. Group Statement: "We, the citizens involved in the DAC Youth Initiative, commit ourselves to creating an environment that promotes the healthy devleopment of our youth to their fullest potential. It is our intention that such a safe, creative, and empowering learning and living environment will be developed through a collaborative effort of youth, local citizens, educators, medical and service professionals, the business community and public and private funding organizations."
• May 13, 1998: Tucumcari 2000 Participative Design Workshop. Reviewed community action initiated by the strategic planning session in early January 1998. Updated the plan and designed organization for further implementation.
• May 22 , 1998: Hatch Valley Recreational Organizing Council (ROC). An outgrowth of the Hatch Valley Healthier Schools project, the ROC - a group of local youths ranging in age from 9 to 17 years and adult mentors) participated in a workshop to address the design and management of the student enrichment center (one outcome of the HVPS planning sessions). The made decisions regarding building and professional architectural services that had been donated. In addition, issues such as fund-raising, organizational growth and development, and enrichment center program development were decided.
• June 25 & 26, 1998: Committee to Preserve the Hubbell Property, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Committee's (part of the Rio Grande Community Development Corp.) goal is to acquire restore and use the historic Hubbell Property as an Agricultural and Cultural Heritage Learning Center for the benefit of Bernalillo County residents. A Search Conference was used to articulate this goal and define the tasks necessary to make it become a reality.

The IIRM continues to coordinate and support the diffusion of Open Systems Theory and associated methods (Search Conference and Participative Design Workshop) in North America.

• The Search Conference (SC) is a flexible method for participative strategic planning, for any type of entity or issue. It enable people to plan their most desirable future with responsibility for the actions they have decided will get them there. Unlike other methods, each is uniquely designed for its people and purposes.
• The Participative Design Workshop (PDW) is an effective and efficient method for changing whole organizations from bureaucratic structures to those with a basic unit of responsible self managing teams. It differs from other approaches because it confronts the most fundamental dimension of change which is the location of responsibility for coordination and control.
• These methods may be used singly or jointly depending on purposes.

• Sponsored International Visitors
 
• Dr. Ranjit Singh, University of the West Indies - to explore common programming interests,work on class development, and participate in a SC/PDW training session.
• Olga Mendoza de Pauck, UNDP-COMPARTIR, Honduras - to participate in SC on Participative Democracy in the Americas and to plan collaborative activities for Honduras.
• Dr. Leonel Prieto-Barrera - to work on class development, and common project interests (various times).
• Dr. Merrelyn Emery, Australian National University - to manage the SC on Participative Democracy in the Americas and to conduct training programs.
• Dr. Mike Gloster, Queensland, Australia - to co-manage the SC on Participative Democracy in the Americas.
• Academic Program Development
• Perspectives on Sustainable Human-Natural Systems - offered Fall 1995,1996, and 1997. Graduate class structured around an E-Mail listserv for international interaction. Collaborators - El Colegio de Mexico, University of the West Indies.

The Institute conducts an on-going research program under the general topic of ecological economics. Specific areas of interest are Participative Democratic Process and Participative Democratic Organizational Structures and their relationship to community based development and sustainable human-natural systems. Thesis work for all graduate (currently 2 Ph.D., 2 M.S.) students associated with the Institute is focused on this area. This research resulted in a refereed journal article:

Diemer, J.A. and R. Alvarez. 1995, Sustainable Community, Sustainable Forestry: A Participative Model. Journal of Forestry, Vol. 93, No. 11, November.

Alvarez, R. A. 1994, De promesa a realidad: la democracia participativa para una educacion ambiental efectiva. Encuentros educar, Febrero.

1. dp2logos@nmsu (Human/Socio-Economic dimensions of sustainable systems). This listserve supports a network with an academic and applied interest in the role of:
 
• human behaviors and attitudes on the issue of sustainability of socio-economic/cultural institutions, and natural systems, and,
• participative, democratic structures and processes, on the issue of sustainability of socio- economic/cultural institutions, and natural systems.
2. ecologos@nmsu.edu (Ecological-Economics, the science and management of sustainable systems). This listserve supports a network with an academic and applied interest in:
 
• a critical examination of the received paradigms of human and natural resource management, and,
• accounting, modeling and analysis for sustainable ecological-economic systems.
3. sustlogos@nmsu.edu Perspectives on Sustainable Human-Natural Systems. This listserve supports a course offered concurrently in several international locations, and a related research network with theoretical and applied interests in the sustainability of human-natural systems and related issues.
4. The Institute also provides and supports 2 restricted listserves for the internal communications needs of the membership of the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Movement. They are:
 
• lacsa-civil@nmsu.edu is a list primarily for non-governmental entities, e.g. civic organizations, foundations, NGO's, individuals, etc.
• lacsa-govt@nmsu.edu is a list primarily for governmental entities, e.g. federal, state and local governmental entities, international agencies, etc.

Search Listserver Archives by keyword or pattern. This option is only available to subscribers of the respective Lists, but is still underconstruction. 

• Director
• Joel A. Diemer - iirm@nmsu.edu
• Senior Advisors
• Merrelyn Emery - memery@anu.edu.au
• Rondeau Gurley - rgurley@nmsu.edu
• Jay M. Hughes - jayhughe@nmsu.edu
• Andy Nunez - iirm@nmsu.edu
• Research Specialists
• Rossana Alvarez - rosalvar@nmsu.edu
• Sheldon Bartel -  iirm@nmsu.edu
• Graduate Researchers
• Mark Hillon - mhillon@nmsu.edu
• Latin American Representative
• Juan Carlos Wandemberg - sustainability@hotmail.com
• Administrative Assistant
• Roseann Colorbio - rcolorbi@nmsu.edu

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LINKS

Participative Design in the Americas

Journal for Quality and Participation

The Alberta Diversity Network

Tranformational Learning Community

Dynamic Learning Community

Latin American Food Security Movement Home Page

Food Security II Project Web Site

Journal for Quality and Participations' Community Quality Page has 2 articles on using the Search Conference process to create/improve communities and 1 article on the Participative Design Workshop process to design self-organizing and selt-managing democratic teams.

Link to other Sustainable Human-Natural sites.

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Find any mispellings, grammatical or other mistakes. Please contact Sheldon Bartel. This page was created with HotDog Pro v2.53 and last updated on November 19, 1998