Placing environmental mediation in context: Lessons from “failed” mediations

Abstract

Practitioners in the emerging field of environmental mediation are working toward an evaluative perspective on mediators' practice. Many accept the achievement of a viable signed agreement as the central indicator of success. However, approximately 90 percent of the cases in which mediators become involved never reach an agreement. This article reports the results of a study of cases that “fail” to determine what can be learned about the evaluation of environmental mediation. In a majority of “failed” cases, participants and observers reported significant procedural contributions from mediators. Most of the cases brought to conclusion informally depended on processes proposed by mediators. This study suggests both that mediators are making greater contributions to environmental decision making than the signed agreement test would indicate and that an evaluative criterion for environmental mediation ought to be focused more on process than on outcomes. Using the metaphor of mediators as educators, the article proposes a step-by-step evaluation based on the mediator's success in teaching the parties more rational joint decision making.