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99-430: The community had no formal organizational structure. Decisions were made through a voluntary weekly meeting of members who made decisions based on a consensus of those present. Project One was initiated by architect Ralph Scott, a former student of Buckminster Fuller , and rapidly became an interdisciplinary learning environment. Central to the concept was Symbas Alternative High School , founded by Scott and located in

198-520: A consensus was reached"). Consensus decision-making, as a self-described practice, originates from several nonviolent , direct action groups that were active in the Civil rights , Peace and Women's movements in the USA during counterculture of the 1960s . The practice gained popularity in the 1970s through the anti-nuclear movement, and peaked in popularity in the early 1980s. Consensus spread abroad through

297-404: A decision rule . Diversity of opinion is normal in most all situations, and will be represented proportionately in an appropriately functioning group. Even with goodwill and social awareness, citizens are likely to disagree in their political opinions and judgments. Differences of interest as well as of perception and values will lead the citizens to divergent views about how to direct and use

396-471: A musyawarah consensus-building process in which parties mediate to find peace and avoid future hostility and revenge. The resulting agreements are expected to be followed, and range from advice and warnings to compensation and exile. The origins of formal consensus -making can be traced significantly further back, to the Religious Society of Friends , or Quakers, who adopted the technique as early as

495-417: A systemic bias , a rigged process (where an agenda is not published in advance or changed when it becomes clear who is present to consent), fear of speaking one's mind, a lack of creativity (to suggest alternatives) or even a lack of courage (to go further along the same road to a more extreme solution that would not achieve unanimous consent). Unanimity is achieved when the full group apparently consents to

594-558: A "ground breaking use of technology." Lloyd Cross , Jerry Pethick Founded by Al Rinker, San Francisco Switchboard was an outgrowth of the Haight-Ashbury Switchboard . SF Switchboard relocated to Project One in 1970. In January, The Ecology Center Press, Resource One and Symbas School combined forces with the San Francisco Switchboard to coordinate communications among volunteers and organizational responses to

693-538: A 75% supermajority to finalize its decisions, potentially as early as 1142. In the Xulu and Xhosa (South African) process of indaba , community leaders gather to listen to the public and negotiate figurative thresholds towards an acceptable compromise. The technique was also used during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference . In Aceh and Nias cultures (Indonesian), family and regional disputes, from playground fights to estate inheritance, are handled through

792-605: A Japanese company, they had to discuss the idea with everyone even the janitor, yet once a decision was made the Americans found the Japanese were able to act much quicker because everyone was on board, while the Americans had to struggle with internal opposition. Outside of Western culture, multiple other cultures have used consensus decision-making. One early example is the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy Grand Council , which used

891-438: A bunch of Buddhist abbots, rinpoches, lamas, roshis, Sikh gurus, Taoist priests, kung-fu masters, archbishops, swamis, Orthodox monks, friars, rabbis, and Sufi shaykhs; all of whom would find time to give the kids their blessings. The parents were artists, exotic dancers, actors, rock&roll musicians, political activists, techies, nurses, social workers, a park ranger - all childcare early-adapters, most screened and referred by

990-609: A central role in the development of the personal computer . Prior to the publication and distribution of the Social Service Referral Directory, social workers and other staff in San Francisco's many agencies relied on personal rolodexes , pamphlets and lists in order to refer their clients for additional and appropriate services. Critical information within agencies changed frequently and successful referrals required up to date and complete information. The idea that

1089-411: A cleaning technology that could lessen impact on oiled, endangered and threatened species, and that by responding to spills involving more numerous species, precarious populations of birds would not be subject to experimentation when oiling occurred." Through the 1970s, International Bird Rescue was responsible for a number of important journal articles. By the mid-1980s, the organization had become

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1188-539: A decision. It has disadvantages insofar as further disagreement, improvements or better ideas then remain hidden, but effectively ends the debate moving it to an implementation phase. Some consider all unanimity a form of groupthink, and some experts propose "coding systems ... for detecting the illusion of unanimity symptom". In Consensus is not Unanimity , long-time progressive change activist Randy Schutt writes: Many people think of consensus as simply an extended voting method in which everyone must cast their votes

1287-445: A democracy is consensus democracy . The word consensus is Latin meaning "agreement, accord", derived from consentire meaning "feel together". A noun, consensus can represent a generally accepted opinion – "general agreement or concord; harmony", "a majority of opinion" – or the outcome of a consensus decision-making process. This article refers to the process and the outcome (e.g. "to decide by consensus" and "

1386-488: A diversity of thought. The facilitator is understood as serving the group rather than acting as person-in-charge. In the Quaker model, as with other consensus decision-making processes, articulating the emerging consensus allows members to be clear on the decision in front of them. As members' views are taken into account they are likely to support it. The consensus decision-making process often has several roles designed to make

1485-446: A fall-back method to strategically incentivize consensus over blocking. However, this makes it very difficult to tell the difference between those who support the decision and those who merely tactically tolerate it for the incentive. Once they receive that incentive, they may undermine or refuse to implement the agreement in various and non-obvious ways. In general voting systems avoid allowing offering incentives (or "bribes") to change

1584-428: A for-profit partnership continuing the ideals of Optic Nerve within a sustainable financial structure. Conceived by Pam Hardt as a people's computer center and operating with a donated XDS-940 mainframe computer from TransAmerica Corporation, Resource One became the first public computerized bulletin board system (bbs). Principals: Sharon Altus, Bart Berger, Mike Chadwick, John Cooney, Lee Felsenstein , Henry

1683-484: A gang of 4-year-olds. Operating from 6:00am till 7:30pm, Monday through Friday, Apples Daycare was situated on the fourth floor, at the south corner of the building. Six to a dozen of the 15-18 enrolled pre-schoolers came each day. Setting off on foot they explored San Francisco: riding buses, walking neighborhoods, watching parades, attending free concerts in the parks and free movies at the library, attending public presentations of spiritual leaders and teachers. The kids met

1782-521: A heartfelt vote. In the Abilene paradox , a group can unanimously agree on a course of action that no individual member of the group desires because no one individual is willing to go against the perceived will of the decision-making body. Since consensus decision-making focuses on discussion and seeks the input of all participants, it can be a time-consuming process. This is a potential liability in situations where decisions must be made speedily, or where it

1881-489: A large, high-ceiling space on the first floor. Many of these resident non-profit organizations and small businesses were brought in to serve as resources for the students, who were also members of the larger community. Students found mentors who offered skills training and the opportunities to practice new skills. See also community of place . When this abandoned, 84,000 sq. ft. warehouse was first leased in 1970, all previous internal walls and structures had been removed from

1980-440: A leading source of expertise in the wildlife rehabilitation field, pioneering new techniques and co-publishing such guides as Rehabilitating Oiled Seabirds: A Field Manual (1986). Advancements made included best practices for washing oiled birds, warm water pool therapy, and net bottom cages to help prevent sternum and hock lesions in diving birds, auks, and other aquatic species. In 1986, Jay Holcomb became executive director of

2079-772: A matter and reformulating it until no objections remained". This way of working was brought to the SNCC at its formation by the Nashville student group , who had received nonviolence training from James Lawson and Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School . However, as the SNCC faced growing internal and external pressure toward the mid-1960s, it developed into a more hierarchical structure, eventually abandoning consensus. Women Strike for Peace (WSP) are also accounted as independently used consensus from their founding in 1961. Eleanor Garst (herself influenced by Quakers) introduced

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2178-399: A mechanical method for verifying such consensus, apparently in the belief that any such codification leads to attempts to " game the system ." Instead, a working group (WG) chair or BoF chair is supposed to articulate the "sense of the group." One tradition in support of rough consensus is the tradition of humming rather than (countable) hand-raising; this allows a group to quickly discern

2277-471: A mechanism for dealing with disagreements. The Quaker model has been adapted by Earlham College for application to secular settings, and can be effectively applied in any consensus decision-making process. Its process includes: Key components of Quaker-based consensus include a belief in a common humanity and the ability to decide together. The goal is "unity, not unanimity." Ensuring that group members speak only once until others are heard encourages

2376-439: A series of tub washes with a low concentration of Dawn dishwashing liquid in clean water. Scientific studies dating back to the 1970s had identified Dawn, a brand owned by Procter & Gamble as the most effective detergent for removing petrochemicals from bird feathers, replacing earlier methods using solvents and products such as mascara remover, powdered chalk, and mineral oil. Additional research in 1995 confirmed that Dawn

2475-479: A single location would be heard as 4, 6, or 8 violins, all with slightly different timbre, in different physical locations in an orchestral section. Principal: Raymond Baltar, Sr., a printer and founder of the Ecology Center. and International Bird Rescue . Founded 1971. Principals: Ralph Scott, Ray Krauss, Mya Shone, Mary Janowitz, Sherry Reson, Craig Mosher, Andy Bucchiere Principal: Eric Dollard Located in

2574-534: A solution utilizing the Resource One computer was possible came from Charles Bolton. A design, development and implementation team at Resource One (Mary Janowitz, Chris Macie, Sherry Reson, Mya Shone) utilized their donated SDS 940 mainframe computer, programmed by Chris Macie to handle information storage and retrieval. A standardized format and data collection process resulted in agency listings printed on three-hole punch paper. Loose-leaf binders were distributed to

2673-424: A symbol of strength. In his book about Misplaced Pages, Joseph Reagle considers the merits and challenges of consensus in open and online communities. Randy Schutt, Starhawk and other practitioners of direct action focus on the hazards of apparent agreement followed by action in which group splits become dangerously obvious. Unanimous, or apparently unanimous, decisions can have drawbacks. They may be symptoms of

2772-425: A variety of species. Among the most commonly treated include brown pelicans , western gulls , northern fulmars , western grebes , American coots , American white pelicans , eared grebes , common murres , Pacific loons , common loons , black-crowned night herons , great blue herons , mallard ducks , and Canada geese . While International Bird Rescue specializes in treating seabirds and other aquatic birds,

2871-465: A way that assures that "everyone must be heard". The Modified Borda Count voting method has been advocated as more 'consensual' than majority voting, by, among others, by Ramón Llull in 1199, by Nicholas Cusanus in 1435, by Jean-Charles de Borda in 1784, by Hother Hage in 1860, by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1884, and by Peter Emerson in 1986. Japanese companies normally use consensus decision-making, meaning that unanimous support on

2970-425: Is a guide book used by many organizations. This book on Parliamentary Procedure allows the structuring of debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a form of majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of full agreement. Critics of such a process believe that it can involve adversarial debate and the formation of competing factions. These dynamics may harm group member relationships and undermine

3069-436: Is built by a group decision-making process in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the goal of achieving broad acceptance, defined by its terms as form of consensus . The focus on establishing agreement of at least the majority or the supermajority and avoiding unproductive opinion differentiates consensus from unanimity , which requires all participants to support a decision. Consensus decision-making in

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3168-406: Is done, this coercive process is not consensus. Confusion between unanimity and consensus, in other words, usually causes consensus decision-making to fail, and the group then either reverts to majority or supermajority rule or disbands. Most robust models of consensus exclude uniformly unanimous decisions and require at least documentation of minority concerns. Some state clearly that unanimity

3267-429: Is not consensus but rather evidence of intimidation, lack of imagination, lack of courage, failure to include all voices, or deliberate exclusion of the contrary views. Some proponents of consensus decision-making view procedures that use majority rule as undesirable for several reasons. Majority voting is regarded as competitive , rather than cooperative , framing decision-making in a win/lose dichotomy that ignores

3366-438: Is not possible to canvass opinions of all delegates in a reasonable time. Additionally, the time commitment required to engage in the consensus decision-making process can sometimes act as a barrier to participation for individuals unable or unwilling to make the commitment. However, once a decision has been reached it can be acted on more quickly than a decision handed down. American businessmen complained that in negotiations with

3465-672: Is still observed that defies factional explanations. Nearly 40% of the decisions of the United States Supreme Court , for example, are unanimous, though often for widely varying reasons. "Consensus in Supreme Court voting, particularly the extreme consensus of unanimity, has often puzzled Court observers who adhere to ideological accounts of judicial decision making." Historical evidence is mixed on whether particular Justices' views were suppressed in favour of public unity. Heitzig and Simmons (2012) suggest using random selection as

3564-1044: Is then placed in a protective, net-bottomed pen equipped with commercial pet grooming dryers, where it will begin to preen its feathers back into place. A tight overlapping pattern of the feathers creates a natural waterproof seal, which enables the bird to maintain its body temperature and remain buoyant in the water. Post-wash, rehabilitation staff closely monitor a bird's waterproofing as it recovers in warm and then cold water pools. In addition to its oiled wildlife response efforts, International Bird Rescue cares for sick, injured, abused, and orphaned aquatic birds at its two year-round wildlife care centers in California. Common human-caused injuries to aquatic birds include habitat destruction , plastic pollution , fishing hook lacerations, and fishing line entanglements. Some of these injuries are deliberate (and often illegal), such as gunshot wounds, beak cutting, pelican pouch slashings, and clipped wings. International Bird Rescue routinely cares for

3663-585: The 2000 Treasure Spill near Cape Town , South Africa , International Bird Rescue was mobilized by its partner in international oil spill response, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), to assist the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in a massive effort to wash and rehabilitate more than 20,000 oiled African penguins . More than 90% of

3762-466: The A16 Washington D.C. protests in 2000 , affinity groups disputed their spokescouncil's imposition of nonviolence in their action guidelines. They received the reprieve of letting groups self-organize their protests, and as the city's protest was subsequently divided into pie slices, each blockaded by an affinity group's choice of protest. Many of the participants learned about the spokescouncil model on

3861-535: The Arizona Standard and the Oregon Standard , collided near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge , resulting in a spill that covered 50 miles of coastline with 2,700 cubic tons of crude oil. About 7,000 birds were oiled by the spill. Volunteers collected nearly 4,300 of them, mainly western grebes and scoters , and brought them to makeshift rehabilitation centers. Only about 300 were released — in part given

3960-532: The Macondo Prospect oil field in the Gulf of Mexico . The explosion and resulting fire on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers and caused a sea-floor oil gusher that spewed 4.9 million barrels of crude oil before the wellhead was capped on July 15, 2010. The disaster remains the largest accidental marine oil spill in petroleum industry history. International Bird Rescue teamed up with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research ,

4059-533: The S11 (World Economic Forum protest) in 2000 to do so too. Consensus was used at the first Camp for Climate Action (2006) and subsequent camps. Occupy Wall Street (2011) made use of consensus in combination with techniques such as the people's microphone and hand signals . Characteristics of consensus decision-making include: Consensus decision-making is an alternative to commonly practiced group decision-making processes. Robert's Rules of Order , for instance,

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4158-566: The Vietnam War , Lawrence Scott started A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) in 1966 to try and encourage activism within the Quakers. By 1971 AQAG members felt they needed not only to end the war, but transform civil society as a whole, and renamed AQAG to MNS. MNS members used consensus decision-making from the beginning as a non-religious adaptation of the Quaker decision-making they were used to. MNS trained

4257-405: The anti-globalization and climate movements, and has become normalized in anti-authoritarian spheres in conjunction with affinity groups and ideas of participatory democracy and prefigurative politics . The Movement for a New Society (MNS) has been credited for popularizing consensus decision-making. Unhappy with the inactivity of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) against

4356-428: The spokescouncil model, affinity groups make joint decisions by each designating a speaker and sitting behind that circle of spokespeople, akin to the spokes of a wheel. While speaking rights might be limited to each group's designee, the meeting may allot breakout time for the constituent groups to discuss an issue and return to the circle via their spokesperson. In the case of an activist spokescouncil preparing for

4455-600: The 17th century. Anabaptists , including some Mennonites , have a history of using consensus decision-making and some believe Anabaptists practiced consensus as early as the Martyrs' Synod of 1527. Some Christians trace consensus decision-making back to the Bible. The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia references, in particular, Acts 15 as an example of consensus in the New Testament. The lack of legitimate consensus process in

4554-479: The 1940s, the 1971 San Francisco Bay Arizona & Oregon Standard spill , and the 1969 Santa Barbara/Union Platform A spill that preceded it, spurred new efforts to create permanent rehabilitation facilities and programs, as well as to monitor seabird mortality resulting from spills. Alice Berkner, a retired nurse and animal lover who assisted in oiled bird rehabilitation following the Standard Oil accident, became

4653-740: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the 2007 Cosco Busan spill in San Francisco Bay, the 2002 Prestige spill in Galicia, Spain; the 1999 MV Erika spill in Brittany, France; and the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. When a bird becomes oiled, its feathers can mat and separate, exposing the animal's sensitive skin to temperature extremes. The bird also typically ingests petroleum as it attempts to preen

4752-509: The Ecology Action, including veterinarian James Michael Harris, D.V.M. in 1971 and based in Cordelia, California , the group has developed scientifically-based bird rehabilitation techniques and has led oiled wildlife rescue efforts in more than 200 oil spills worldwide, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in

4851-468: The Fiddler, Pam Hardt , Bob Hemmer, Efrem Lipkin, Chris Macie, Gary McCue, Chris Neustrup, Jed Riffe , Steve Robinson, Ford Turping, Paul Ward, Fred Wright. Community Memory was the first public computerized bulletin board system . It was created in 1973 by Lee Felsenstein , Efrem Lipkin, Ken Colstad, Jude Milhon , and Mark Szpakowski. One of Community Memory's founders, Lee Felsenstein, went on to play

4950-642: The Gulf of Mexico, where International Bird Rescue co-managed oiled bird rehabilitation efforts in four states with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research . Formerly known as International Bird Rescue Research Center, the organization cares for an estimated 5,000 birds annually at two rehabilitation centers, the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center and the San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center, that also serve as primary care facilities for oiled birds in

5049-703: The San Francisco Childcare Switchboard. Principals: David, Nancy and daughter Annie Blossom Blossom Studios was a rehearsal space and recording studio for the Blossoms and other musicians. The Blossom's were part of the original Fifty Foot Hose and the band for the touring production of Hair. The journal of the Medical Committee for Human Rights , Body Politic was originally edited by Dr. Larry Brilliant While based in Project One, Body Politic

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5148-595: The San Francisco Community Services Directory aka Community Services Data Base. SFPL maintained it as an online database through spring of 2009. Sometime in the ‘90s the library decided it was duplicative of other, mainly web-based, resources and discontinued it. People in the social services world wish it still existed and Lefkowitz, then the Library's Web Service Manager, commented that the SSRD represented

5247-408: The ability of a group to cooperatively implement a contentious decision. Consensus decision-making attempts to address the beliefs of such problems. Proponents claim that outcomes of the consensus process include: Consensus is not synonymous with unanimity – though that may be a rule agreed to in a specific decision-making process. The level of agreement necessary to finalize a decision is known as

5346-596: The anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance (1976) and Abalone Alliance (1977) to use consensus, and in 1977 published Resource Manual for a Living Revolution , which included a section on consensus. An earlier account of consensus decision-making comes from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the main student organization of the civil rights movement , founded in 1960. Early SNCC member Mary King , later reflected: "we tried to make all decisions by consensus ... it meant discussing

5445-612: The basement of Project One, electrical engineer Eric P. Dollard conducted research in ultra-high-voltage electrical and electronics devices. Dollard was systematically reconstructing some of the systems and techniques originally developed by Nikola Tesla and Philo Farnsworth in the early 20th century. At Project One, Dollard had been able to repeatably produce stable "ball lightning" effects using high-voltage plasmas. The first San Francisco Methadone clinic , Fort Help, founded by Dr. Joel Fort. Principals: Jeff Neiman, Albert Neiman. From Albert's 2020 obituary: "In 1970, Albert became one of

5544-458: The basement, four full floors and penthouse. It was completely empty except for the structural supporting columns that held the four stories up. The building was constructed with steel reinforced concrete . When it was first occupied, the people who lived and worked there designed and built all the walls, hallways, work and living spaces as well as the electrical and plumbing systems. As not all had previous skills in construction and remodeling there

5643-462: The beaches, and over the next several weeks almost everyone in the building helped to build an old-­‐school information hub, complete with a phone bank, whiteboards and rumor control. We coordinated with other volunteer hubs that had sprung up in Marin County, Half Moon Bay and elsewhere to try and manage the volunteer effort, and though most of the birds died, the beaches did eventually get cleaned and

5742-477: The board of directors is sought for any decision. A ringi-sho is a circulation document used to obtain agreement. It must first be signed by the lowest level manager, and then upwards, and may need to be revised and the process started over. In the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), decisions are assumed to be taken by rough consensus . The IETF has studiously refrained from defining

5841-540: The board of directors. In 2015 JD Bergeron was appointed Executive Director. Later the board changed his title to Chief Executive Director. International Bird Rescue has responded to oil spills in countries such as the United States, France, Norway, Spain, South Africa, Australia, Ecuador, Argentina, and New Zealand. Among the most high-profile oiled wildlife response efforts include the 2011 Rena spill in New Zealand,

5940-647: The clean-up effort. Records kept by Public Television station KQED were subsequently destroyed. Then a Symbas student, Ray Baltar, Jr., whose father ran the Ecology Center Press, wrote of his experience "as part of a school work experience project I had scored a job as an operator for the San Francisco Switchboard on an old PBX machine, also in the building, when I started getting calls about an oil spill in San Francisco Bay caused by two Standard Oil tankers that had collided. Thousands of people wanted to know if and where they could volunteer to help rescue birds and clean

6039-462: The debate. When all agree, the chair calls for a preferential vote, as per the rules for a Modified Borda Count. The referees decide which option, or which composite of the two leading options, is the outcome. If its level of support surpasses a minimum consensus coefficient, it may be adopted. Groups that require unanimity commonly use a core set of procedures depicted in this flow chart. Once an agenda for discussion has been set and, optionally,

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6138-508: The decision. Members of a minority position may feel less commitment to a majority decision, and even majority voters who may have taken their positions along party or bloc lines may have a sense of reduced responsibility for the ultimate decision. The result of this reduced commitment, according to many consensus proponents, is potentially less willingness to defend or act upon the decision. Majority voting cannot measure consensus. Indeed,—so many 'for' and so many 'against'—it measures

6237-968: The effort spawned the International Bird Rescue group that has responded to many subsequent spills and has learned how to save much more wildlife." In 1967, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) was founded in New York City after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. The VVAW San Francisco Chapter was one of the early groups in Project One, organizing against the Vietnam war, and counseling and assisting their fellow veterans. Principals: Lee Thorn, Mike Oliver, Jack McCloskey, Jim O'Donnell, Bob Hanson, Paul Cox, and Mike Oliver. (to be added) 37°46′27″N 122°24′52″W  /  37.7743°N 122.4144°W  / 37.7743; -122.4144 Consensus decision-making Consensus

6336-613: The event of a spill in California. Common bird species treated include brown pelicans , common murres , western grebes , Pacific loons , and a variety of gulls , herons , and other waterfowl . International Bird Rescue is a member of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), which is managed by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine on behalf of the State of California. On January 19, 1971, two Standard Oil tankers,

6435-512: The facilitator calling for proposals. Every proposed option is accepted if the referees decide it is relevant and conforms with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The referees produce and display a list of these options. The debate proceeds, with queries, comments, criticisms and/or even new options. If the debate fails to come to a verbal consensus, the referees draw up a final list of options - usually between 4 and 6 - to represent

6534-519: The first Executive Director of International Bird Rescue — originally called International Bird Rescue Research Center — in May 1971. The fledgling organization was housed in a small space above the Berkeley Humane Society, and in 1975 moved to Berkeley's Aquatic Park on a $ 5-per-year lease from the city. The early ethos of the organization was one of seabird conservation through partnership with

6633-469: The fly by participating in it directly, and came to better understand their planned action by hearing others' concerns and voicing their own. In Designing an All-Inclusive Democracy (2007), Emerson proposes a consensus oriented approach based on the Modified Borda Count (MBC) voting method. The group first elects, say, three referees or consensors. The debate on the chosen problem is initiated by

6732-414: The ground rules for the meeting have been agreed upon, each item of the agenda is addressed in turn. Typically, each decision arising from an agenda item follows through a simple structure: Quaker -based consensus is said to be effective because it puts in place a simple, time-tested structure that moves a group towards unity. The Quaker model is intended to allow hearing individual voices while providing

6831-463: The group members in order to build the experience and skills of the participants, and prevent any perceived concentration of power. The common roles in a consensus meeting are: Critics of consensus blocking often observe that the option, while potentially effective for small groups of motivated or trained individuals with a sufficiently high degree of affinity , has a number of possible shortcomings, notably Consensus seeks to improve solidarity in

6930-530: The lack of established oiled bird rehabilitation practices at the time. "There were dying birds everywhere and no one knew what to do. It was as horrible as you can imagine," Jay Holcomb, International Bird Rescue's former executive director, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2012. "It was then that we realized there needs to be an organized attempt for their care." While documented rehabilitation efforts of oiled seabirds in California dates back to

7029-490: The lead oiled wildlife organization on the ground, to co-manage oiled bird rehabilitation centers in Louisiana , Alabama , Mississippi , and Florida as part of a large-scale response to the incident that involved federal and state agencies, industry, and non-governmental organizations. More than 8,000 oiled birds were captured and collected both dead and alive, according to government figures, with 1,246 birds released back into

7128-470: The long run. Accordingly, it should not be confused with unanimity in the immediate situation, which is often a symptom of groupthink . Studies of effective consensus process usually indicate a shunning of unanimity or "illusion of unanimity" that does not hold up as a group comes under real-world pressure (when dissent reappears). Cory Doctorow , Ralph Nader and other proponents of deliberative democracy or judicial-like methods view explicit dissent as

7227-642: The mid-1990s led to the creation of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), formed as part of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response and administered by the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. New rehabilitation facilities, such as those currently managed by International Bird Rescue, were designed to prevent disease transmission among avian patients and to minimize historic challenges associated with animal husbandry. During

7326-408: The oil industry. In 1977, International Bird Rescue signed its first oil spill response contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company . "My attitude was not that of the stereotypical environmentalist of that time, but that of a consumer who accepted responsibility for what could result from petroleum consumption on an individual and even species level," Berkner recalled. "I felt it important to develop

7425-429: The oil off its feathers. As a result, oil exposure can lead to dehydration , kidney damage , and hypothermia or hyperthermia , among other serious health conditions. After collection, each oiled bird is stabilized, which includes nutrition, hydration, and medical treatment before it is considered for a wash, as unstable birds may die from the resulting stress of the procedure. Once stable, an oiled bird goes through

7524-494: The oiled birds captured were released. In addition to the rehabilitation program, CapeNature initiated a large-scale capture program on nearby islands and successfully relocated more than 19,500 non-oiled penguins. International Bird Rescue saw perhaps the most extensive international attention of its near-40-year existence in 2010 following the explosion of Deepwater Horizon , a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit owned and operated by Transocean and leased by BP on

7623-435: The option of blocking a group decision. This provision motivates a group to make sure that all group members consent to any new proposal before it is adopted. When there is potential for a block to a group decision, both the group and dissenters in the group are encouraged to collaborate until agreement can be reached. Simply vetoing a decision is not considered a responsible use of consensus blocking. Some common guidelines for

7722-437: The organization. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the organization's oiled wildlife response efforts extended well beyond California. International Bird Rescue staff spent six months managing three bird centers and two search-and-collection programs in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster , where 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Alaska's Prince William Sound , killing between 100,000 and 250,000 seabirds. Exxon Valdez

7821-439: The organized political power of the community, in order to promote and protect common interests. If political representatives reflect this diversity, then there will be as much disagreement in the legislature as there is in the population. To ensure the agreement or consent of all participants is valued, many groups choose unanimity or near-unanimity as their decision rule. Groups that require unanimity allow individual participants

7920-557: The original members of Project One, a unique urban collective located in an old candy factory South of Market. Here he established Image Works, a motion picture lab that supported the independent and student film community." An alternative music and news radio station Principals: Lynn Adler, Sherrie Rabinowitz , Jules Backus, Jim Mayer, Bill Bradbury , Ben Tarcher Founded in 1970 as a photography collective focusing on social issues and American culture, in 1972 Optic Nerve began working in video as well as photography. Their first production

8019-573: The participating agencies, who paid a nominal fee to be mailed a monthly packet including ten new listings and ten to twenty revised listings. While some agency people sent in information as programs or capacities or locations changed, maintaining current information — and adding listings — depended on project staff making direct telephone contact with agency personnel. Listings were sorted alphabetically behind tabs and index pages provided an overview regarding neighborhoods, languages spoken, types of service and other critical criteria. Joan Lefkowitz joined

8118-443: The possibility of compromise or other mutually beneficial solutions. Carlos Santiago Nino, on the other hand, has argued that majority rule leads to better deliberation practice than the alternatives, because it requires each member of the group to make arguments that appeal to at least half the participants. Some advocates of consensus would assert that a majority decision reduces the commitment of each individual decision-maker to

8217-473: The practice as part of the loose and participatory structure of WSP. As consensus grew in popularity, it became less clear who influenced who. Food Not Bombs , which started in 1980 in connection with an occupation of Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant organized by the Clamshell Alliance , adopted consensus for their organization. Consensus was used in the 1999 Seattle WTO protests , which inspired

8316-480: The prevalence of dissent, without making it easy to slip into majority rule . Much of the business of the IETF is carried out on mailing lists , where all parties can speak their views at all times. International Bird Rescue International Bird Rescue is a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates injured aquatic birds , most notably seabirds affected by oil spills . Founded by Alice Berkner and members of

8415-464: The process run more effectively. Although the name and nature of these roles varies from group to group, the most common are the facilitator , consensor , a timekeeper, an empath and a secretary or notes taker. Not all decision-making bodies use all of these roles, although the facilitator position is almost always filled, and some groups use supplementary roles, such as a Devil's advocate or greeter. Some decision-making bodies rotate these roles through

8514-681: The request of Massey University 's Wildlife Health Centre) and the Yellowstone River Silvertip Pipeline Spill Incident , both occurring in 2011. A bitumen release in the Alberta Tar Sands in the summer of 2013 also led to a wildlife response by International Bird Rescue in partnership with two Canadian wildlife organizations. Jay Holcomb, International Bird Rescue's executive director, director emeritus and an internationally known wildlife advocate, died on June 10, 2014, of kidney cancer. During his tenure he

8613-506: The same way. Since unanimity of this kind rarely occurs in groups with more than one member, groups that try to use this kind of process usually end up being either extremely frustrated or coercive. Decisions are never made (leading to the demise of the group), they are made covertly, or some group or individual dominates the rest. Sometimes a majority dominates, sometimes a minority, sometimes an individual who employs "the Block." But no matter how it

8712-596: The team early in 1974, then Katerina Lanner-Cusin came on board. The following year, a conversation with The United Way of the Bay Area, and the heads of San Francisco Social Services and the Zellerbach Family Fund , resulted in the United Way assuming responsibility. In the summer of 1994, the United Way determined they were unable to maintain the service. The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) took over and renamed it

8811-454: The unanimous conviction of Jesus by corrupt priests in an illegally held Sanhedrin court (which had rules preventing unanimous conviction in a hurried process) strongly influenced the views of pacifist Protestants, including the Anabaptists (Mennonites/Amish), Quakers and Shakers. In particular it influenced their distrust of expert-led courtrooms and to "be clear about process" and convene in

8910-409: The use of consensus blocking include: A participant who does not support a proposal may have alternatives to simply blocking it. Some common options may include the ability to: The basic model for achieving consensus as defined by any decision rule involves: All attempts at achieving consensus begin with a good faith attempt at generating full-agreement, regardless of decision rule threshold. In

9009-453: The very opposite, the degree of dissent. The Modified Borda Count has been put forward as a voting method which better approximates consensus. Some formal models based on graph theory attempt to explore the implications of suppressed dissent and subsequent sabotage of the group as it takes action. High-stakes decision-making, such as judicial decisions of appeals courts, always require some such explicit documentation. Consent however

9108-503: The wild. International Bird Rescue's efforts to save oiled birds during the spill were prominently featured in the Emmy Award -winning HBO documentary Saving Pelican 895 , which chronicled the step-by-step rehabilitation efforts of a single juvenile brown pelican. Post- Deepwater Horizon oil spills that International Bird Rescue has responded to include the Rena spill in New Zealand (at

9207-405: Was a lot of on-the-job training , reflecting a strong do-it-yourself ethic which was common in the counterculture . Since there were a wide variety of skills available within the community, it was rarely necessary to hire outside contractors. Principals: Larry Bensky , Barry Kearson (aka Barry Michaels) Alternative radio production Principal: Rashid (née Ray) Patch served as front man for

9306-619: Was a recipient of Oceana's Ocean Heroes Award , the John Muir Conservationist of the Year Award and the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Following his death, Barbara Callahan, a longtime senior staff member of International Bird Rescue who trained under Holcomb and serves as global response director, was appointed interim executive director of the organization by

9405-676: Was an hour documentary about Project One. Optic Nerve’s early video documentaries explored rodeos, beauty pageants and the world of owner operator truck drivers.. These were among the first independently produced video documentaries to be broadcast on Public Television. They collaborated with local artists groups such as Ant Farm . In 1973, the collective moved around the corner from Project One into an undeveloped loft space. The Optic Nerve studio became an important venue in San Francisco's alternative media community, hosting public video screenings, performances, video shoots, and some very good parties. In 1980, three past members formed Ideas In Motion as

9504-823: Was edited by John Lowry. Principals: Peter de Blanc, Liz Barto, Dennis Rice, Steve Sultan, Jeff Neiman, Ray Patch, John Halpern, Vana Veness DB Associates, located in the basement of Project One, was the successor to Tomorrow, Inc., which had originally been incorporated in Chicago in 1968; most of the team had worked together since 1967. As Tomorrow, Inc., the crew had designed and built nightclubs and discothèques, high-tech light-shows, custom film and projection systems, special-effects lighting systems, recording studios, radio studios, and produced concerts and music festivals. DB Associates designed and built custom electronics, sound and lighting systems, amplifiers, mixers, specialized custom computer and communications equipment. A typical project

9603-494: Was the Electric Symphony Orchestra, where a small 40-piece classical orchestra had pickups attached non-destructively to every instrument. All the sound signals from each instrument source were run through custom designed delay and phase shift circuitry, and then through a multi-channel mixer, so that the stereo signal for each single instrument was multiplied, and also separated in space. So, for example, one violin at

9702-461: Was the best available cleaning detergent for oiled wildlife because it easily removed oil without damaging a bird's plumage, irritating its skin, or posing additional health problems to the animals or the people involved in rehabilitation efforts. After washing, the bird is taken to a separate rinsing area where a special nozzle is used to completely rinse the solution, as any detergent or solution left on its feathers can impair waterproofing. The bird

9801-706: Was the first major spill where field stabilization and transport were utilized extensively in oiled wildlife care. Following the Exxon Valdez incident, Congress passed and President George H. W. Bush signed into law the U.S. Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990. Among other requirements, the law mandates more stringent oil spill contingency planning by industry that included oiled wildlife emergency response. OPA, along with California's Lampert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act , led to new programs to collect data on mortality rates and develop seabird restoration programs. Several bills passed in California in

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