Collaboration and Stewardship
The interagency and intergovernmental
collaboration achieved in the first five years not only represented a new approach to ocean resources management in Hawai‘i, but it is a collaboration that has led to achievement of many of the management priorities and strategic actions and has helped to strengthen ongoing efforts to manage ocean resources.
Formation of the ORMP Policy Group and ORMP Working Group for Agency Coordination
The OP-CZM Program formed the ORMP Policy Group and ORMP Working Group in 2007 just after completion of the 2006 ORMP. The Policy Group consists of the directors of state and county resource management agencies, the University of Hawai‘i, federal partners, and the Marine and Coastal Zone Advocacy Council (MACZAC). The Working Group consists of managers and staff of the same offices that are tasked with coordinating their respective agency’s implementation efforts.
Coordination lessons learned during the Demonstration Phase were that the ORMP Policy and Working Groups are an integral part to implementation of the ORMP. The 2006 ORMP had already been written at the time of the Working Group’s formation, however, the group still needed to go through the process of finding the group’s common goals and working styles in order to perform as a group.
The Policy Group met approximately twice a year to sanction staff time and resources for the Working Group. The Working Group met nearly every month. Agency status reports were given and special topical presentations were scheduled as needed. The Working Group typically had a professional facilitator. Several of its monthly meetings in 2012 were dedicated to input and feedback on the ORMP Update.
Ocean Resources Management Plan 2013
Mission Statement of the Policy and Working Groups
“In support of a healthy and thriving ocean for today and future generations, we are committed to adopting integrated approaches to manage our ocean’s resources by:
connecting land and sea; preserving our ocean heritage; and promoting collaboration and stewardship.”
July 2010 There was a substantial amount turnover of members in the Policy Group due to change in
administrations. Therefore, an orientation package was developed to assist members in their duties and roles. The Orientation Packet included key reference materials:
Background of the CZM Program;
Summary of the National CZMA of 1972;
Summary of Hawaii’s CZM law (HRS Chapter 205A);
Summary of the 2006 ORMP;
Listing of federal, state, university, county, and community partners;
Coordination/communication process showing CZM Staff, Policy Group, and Working Group roles and responsibilities; and
ORMP implementation projects underway.
2010 Joint ORMP Policy & Working Group Appreciative Inquiry Strategic Planning Session
ORMP Policy and Working Group members both requested that the Policy Group meet more frequently and increase their engagement with the Working Group. As a result, the OP-CZM Program developed a two-day strategic planning session for the Policy Group and the Working Group.
The Joint ORMP Policy & Working Group Appreciative Inquiry Strategic Planning Meeting was held at the Waikiki Beach Marriott in July 2010. A written record was kept of discussions at the meeting. A group memory was taken; aspirations or visions for the future and strategic issues were listed for each breakout group.
Visions for the future included more collaboration, education, and sustainability. Changes or transformations to the process identified as necessary to achieve the vision included: education of participants, buy-in, and political will. Root causes of success included: communication, resources, and leadership. Core values included: malama (stewardship), leadership, and unity expressed with lokahi (harmony).
With a mission statement in place, the ORMP Groups brainstormed and prioritized their strengths, identified and prioritized opportunities, imagined a future to work toward, and developed action plans on how to achieve success. This exercise was called SOAR: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results.
Strengths included: partnerships and collaboration, resources, framework/plan itself, people capacity.
Ocean Resources Management Plan 2013
Results included: Action plans to achieve the vision, such as educating the next generation on the ocean through influencing change in standards-based curriculum and developing a Succession Strategy/Plan for the upcoming transition in membership within the ORMP Group.
ORMP Consolidated Work Plan
The ORMP Working Group developed a two-year 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan, which contained 137 activities associated with ten management goals and 28 strategic actions.
The 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan recognized that not all of the 2006 ORMP management goals and strategic actions were being implemented in 2008. The 2008 Work Plan identified that 69 of the ORMP strategic actions, or 61%, were in some stage of implementation by agency Working Group members. The 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan provided a summary listing of the management goals and strategic actions being implemented through 2009 by the following agencies: County planning departments (Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, and Maui), Department of Agriculture Aquaculture Development Program, Department of Health, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Transportation Harbors Division, OP, UH SOEST, and U.S. Coast Guard.
Since agencies could not be expected to implement all strategic actions all at once, Working Group members with responsibility to implement these actions went through the ORMP Strategic Action Matrix and identified which actions their respective agency were actively implementing or intending to
implement between July 2007 and June 2009. They also identified which actions were deferred, and which should be dropped or modified. The intent was for the 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan to be updated as needed.
Lessons learned from the activity of the 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan were that it needed to be simplified, and the number of strategic actions reduced to a manageable and measurable number.
In 2012, the Working Group reviewed the 2008 ORMP Consolidated Work Plan as part of this ORMP Update. This review further found that while some of the activities were accomplished, many other activities were under the purview of agencies that were not involved in the Working Group or Policy Group, such as the Department of Education. The 2012 review also found that there needed to be a lead agency associated with each action, or there would not be any leadership or accountability to measure performance. Finally, the review again found that there were too many strategic actions and activities, and that the perspectives, management goals, strategic actions, and activities needed to be simplified.