This course is a collaboration between the University of Maryland College Park’s Project Management Center for Excellence and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. While each course stands alone, the series works together to provide the knowledge, skills, and frameworks to lead projects that address Socio-Environmental problems.In this course, we are building from the point of having successfully completed Stakeholder Outreach. This means that the major complex problem has been identified, measured, and distilled into a powerful narrative that can engage stakeholders to drive them to the next step: Stakeholder Collaboration. To get started, we need to orient towards "why" we need to collaborate after collaboration. The answer? Problem complexity. Tackling complexity is a task no one person can do by its definition. Truly complex and wicked problems have no stopping point, no clarity of definition, and change as you try to improve the current state so you must reassess. Complex issues are also defined by a lack of complete information in any one party. The issues involve many standpoints, perspectives, and details partitioned among those involved. That’s why it’s “complex.” To solve this we need to tackle the problem which is termed “requisite variety,” a term coined by David Benjamin and David Komlos in their book “Cracking Complexity,” which is to say we need all the diverse representatives from those parts of the complex problem to bring their unique knowledge and perspective together. In science when we do this it’s called “Transdisciplinary Approaches.” In Project Management we call this “cross-disciplinary” and “cross-organizational” problem solving. But what’s unique about Environmental Project Management is the often added problem of no organization existing among the rights holders that are impacted by the problems. So the added job of rallying and organizing these groups is added to the list of challenges for the Environmental Project Leader. Then the work of getting a first view of the complex problem can truly begin.

In this course you’ll learn how to improve your project management communication in your work environment and motivate and engage communities with clear communication to address complex environmental problems. As an environmental advocate or project manager, your active listening skills and effective communication skills are paramount to in person team members, remote teams, general employee engagement, and even more so for achieving success. The first step in solving complex societal and environmental problems is to rally support around the idea that there is a problem worth solving and that can be solved. This is achieved with good communication, teamwork, and clarifying data visualization.This course will begin with storytelling as an effective communication skill providing powerful frameworks for establishing meaning and understanding about complex topics. However, better communication is not always verbal. A picture is worth 1,000 words (or more), and so the course continues with data visualization to help succinctly present meaningful data and engage stakeholders with powerful information. Additional communication strategies covered are the importance of presence, being confident and engaging as well as establishing trust and credibility. By improving poor communication skills and converting them into effective workplace communication across various communication channels on your project team with both verbal and non-verbal communication styles improves your environmental project management. The benefits of effective communication on workflow, teamwork, employee engagement, team collaboration, overall well-being of the project are seen in real-time as you improve your team communication. And finally, the course establishes the fundamentals of good presentations for project management, when presenting for stakeholders and project team members in-person onsite in your work environment, utilizing communication tools like zoom, or face-to-face giving a public presentation. We provide the effective communication techniques; using proven designs and techniques and the art of data and clear communication to increase engagement on your environmental projects. Whether it’s internal communication or customer outreach, the best communication process starts with a story. Together, storytelling, data visualization, and presence can help to motivate stakeholders and give convincing clarifying presentations when managing large-scale complex environmental projects.

Unlock Your Potential in Environmental Project Management.Are you ready to excel in leading complex environmental projects and drive sustainable outcomes? This course is designed to equip you with cutting-edge adaptive management practices and leadership skills essential for navigating distributed environments and tackling intricate environmental challenges. Empowering Team Members and Stakeholders Through this course, you will learn how to empower team members closest to the work by fostering decision-making and ownership, ensuring every stakeholder plays a vital role in co-producing sustainable solutions. You will explore strategies to build and facilitate great partnerships, from assembling high-performing teams to establishing motivation, framing purpose, and creating psychological safety that amplifies collaboration and mitigates risks during project execution. Adaptive Management Across Environmental Sectors Whether your focus is on climate change, ecological systems, biodiversity, land management, international development, natural resource management, water resources, or wetland protection, adaptive management and stakeholder engagement are central to achieving impactful results. This course emphasizes trust-building across diverse teams and provides actionable insights into implementing interventions and iterative feedback loops to align efforts and achieve shared goals. Strategic Management Frameworks You will gain expertise in establishing clear management processes and strategic execution frameworks that enhance decision-making at all levels. Learn how to apply management strategies such as Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), agile team design, and adaptive execution frameworks to coordinate efforts effectively without dictating direction. These approaches foster feedback, strengthen partnerships, and encourage participatory adaptive management. Real-World Case Studies The course culminates with an in-depth case study on the Chesapeake Bay watershed and sustainability. Dive into real-world examples of adaptive management in action, including the Chesapeake fisheries, to understand water quality, regulatory impacts, and the success of active adaptive management. These lessons will empower you to model adaptive management practices for your own environmental projects, influencing future management, fostering healthy ecosystems, and driving sustainability. Join the Journey to Leadership in environmental project management and make a lasting impact on the world.