Restructure our Structure

Change doesn’t come easy. I am starting to have a better understanding of this mantra as I look back on the historic efforts to preserve the salmon and their habitat. As the salmon population continues to decline and the environmental problems become seemingly more insurmountable, I am challenged by this track record.

This past week I have been brainstorming ways to engage various stakeholders, especially community members to create a more comprehensive and collaborative salmon recovery strategy. Through this process, it has occurred to me that our voices are mainly heard through agencies and organizations. Think about it, if you were interested in becoming involved or even voicing your opinion about something in which you feel passionately, you would either find a local organization to give money or volunteer time, contact a governmental agency to explain your position, or start your own movement. But what if you lived in area where such organization don’t exist, or time and money is not something you have to give, or you lack the resources to start your own organization? In fact, what if you don’t even have easy access to the internet to seek further information? Often these people are left behind and their voices and opinions are neglected.

Furthermore, organizations can often burn through volunteers because they are set up in a way that provides little to no return on investments made. Many organizations have agendas that shape the development of projects and the role of the volunteer then, most likely, becomes the implementation of such projects. Unless they are on the Board of Directors or the steering committee, volunteers have little to no say in the developmental process. It seems that some organizations, while trying to serve from the bottom up still employ the top down strategy.

Unfortunately time is becoming an increasingly important factor in solving our environmental problems, yet our ways of creating change seem slow and antiquated. Are we being constrained by our existing models of collaboration? Are our organizational models even set up to effectively serve all constituents? I think it is time to challenge our rules of engagement and our methods of organization to finds ways we can mobilize people faster, more efficiently, farther reaching, and on a broader more inclusive level.