Learning the lessons of the Commission on Resources & Environment (CORE)
Abstract
The Commission on Resources and the Environment
(CORE) has been an important experiment
in "social learning" in B. C. To date the
process has largely fallen apart in two of the
regions where a negotiated settlement approach
was attempted (Vancouver Island
and the West Kootenays), and has met with
relative success in two others. In the case of
the former, a land use plan has been proposed
by Commissioner Stephen Owen, in
lieu of agreement amongst the parties, and
has been jiggled to fit the clashing priorities
of different parts of the island. In the case of
the latter, the participants achieved a rough
consensus in the East Kootenays, but
walked away quite disgruntled in the West
Kootenays. In the third area subject to the
CORE process - the Cariboo-Chilcotin - the
participants were given a second chance
after Owen's fall-back plan proved unpopular.
Much research is needed on whether
these plans are ecologically sound and, if
sound, what the lessons are for how widely
divergent groups come to a meeting of
minds.