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University of Maryland, College Park

Co-Production: Addressing Complexity with Environmental Adaptive Management

University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science via edX

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Overview

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This course explores adaptive leadership and collaborative management for complex environmental projects, moving beyond traditional "top-down" approaches. It equips participants with strategies to drive sustainable outcomes through empowered teams, stakeholder engagement, and iterative decision-making in distributed environments.

Key Themes

Modern Management Foundations:

  • Shifts from hierarchical leadership to co-production and participatory decision-making.
  • Emphasizes empowering teams closest to the work, fostering ownership, and integrating adaptive practices across stakeholders.

Building Effective Partnerships:

  • Techniques to create psychological safety, align purpose, and motivate interdisciplinary teams.
  • Strategies for managing risks, incorporating feedback loops, and maintaining trust across "teams of teams."

Adaptive Frameworks & Tools:

  • Implementation of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), agile execution, and team-design strategies to coordinate action without micromanagement.
  • Emphasis on iterative processes that strengthen partnerships and improve ecological, regulatory, or resource-management outcomes.

Applied Learning

  • Case Study Spotlight: Chesapeake Bay’s watershed restoration and fisheries management.
  • Analyzes adaptive management in action, including water quality challenges, regulatory impacts, and iterative solutions for ecosystem health.
  • Demonstrates how shared incentives, stakeholder collaboration, and data-driven adjustments lead to scalable success.

Target Outcomes

Participants will learn to:

  • Lead distributed teams in climate, biodiversity, land/water management, or international development projects.
  • Design adaptive processes that balance stakeholder interests with ecological sustainability.
  • Apply stewardship principles to influence policy, guide decision-makers, and align incentives for lasting impact.

Syllabus

Module 1: Co-Production & Chesapeake

  1. Production and Chesapeake
  2. Roles and Responsibilities of Rights Holders, Duty Bearers, Facilitators
  3. Benefits: Open Innovation in Environmental Problem-Solving
  4. Challenges of Co-production in Environmental Management
  5. Role of Change Agents
  6. Approaches and Frameworks

Module 2: Strategic Doing

  1. Strategic Doing
  2. Strategic Doing Fundamentals
  3. Shift to Modern Leadership
  4. From Teamwork to Network
  5. Trust

Module 3: Agile Leader Skills

  1. TEAM: Talk
  2. TEAM: Envision
  3. TEAM: Analyze
  4. TEAM: Motivate

Module 4: Case Study on the Chesapeake

  1. Case Introduction
  2. Outreach
  3. Collaboration
  4. Co-Production

Taught by

Richard Arnold, William “Bill” Dennison, John Johnson and Bill Brantley

Reviews

5.0 rating, based on 3 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Co-Production: Addressing Complexity with Environmental Adaptive Management

  • Anonymous
    Course was well paced and provided information and strategies that I intend on including in my career
  • Anonymous
    This was the best course out of the Environmental Project Management certificate. It was well organized, with relevant concepts that I can apply directly to my career as an environmental project manager. I would recommend that the preceding courses are restructured for clarity and cohesion using this course as a template.
  • Anonymous
    Very good and interesting topic. I have learnt lot of new things.
    Some area might need to little bit simple and other all are ok .

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