Consensus Building
Consensus building allows a group of varied
stakeholders to have input into the decision-making
process. There must be group ownership of the decisions
made. Participants in the consensus-building process
must agree or else be able to live with the final
decisions AND be willing to support those decisions.
Key
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components of the consensus building process:
Everyone has an understanding of the issue
Promotes participation of all
Differences have been openly discussed
Options have been fully evaluated
Avoids winners and losers
“ C ommon ground ” has been found
Consensus building is NOT:
• Unanimous, positive agreement
• “ M ajority rules ”
• Ignoring significant dissent
• Attempting to silence through intimidation
• A mandated approach from authority or experts