Relational Decision Framework

Relational Decision Framework Workshop

Multi-party projects often stall, fracture, or collapse because the people responsible for delivering them could not find a way to work together well enough, for long enough.

The Relational Decision Framework is a structured workshop that prepares a project team to engage other parties effectively. Through role play, scenario planning, and facilitated dialogue, participants build a genuine understanding of what those parties likely need, value, and are afraid of to develop a deployment plan that works to prevent conflict before it starts. The other parties are not in the room unless an invitation is made. .

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Who is this for

Governance and engagement staff at Indigenous organizations and governments
Program leads and policy advisors at federal, provincial, or territorial ministries
Project leads at energy, infrastructure, or resource development organizations
Any team preparing to engage external parties whose cooperation they need

Common contexts

Renewable energy deployment
Water governance and transboundary management
Critical mineral and resource development
Large-scale infrastructure
Climate adaptation planning
Environmental and conservation initiatives

The 6 Phases

1 Ground

Shared purpose, internal agreements, and what a good process looks like for this group.

2 Map

Your project, your goals, the other parties, and an honest look at where things stand today.

3 Imagine

The scenarios most likely to unfold, where things could break down, and what options exist at each point.

4 Step Across

Role play and facilitated dialogue where team members inhabit the likely perspectives of the parties they will be engaging.

5 Understand

What the role plays revealed: what the other parties need, what will drive their responses, and where there is room to move.

6 Plan Forward

A concrete deployment plan: how to proceed, what to prepare for, and how to build conditions for mutual gain.

Offshore wind turbines in the ocean under a blue sky.

A landscape view of a forest with a lake in the distance, under a clear sky.

A rocky shoreline with large rocks and boulders, calm water, and a forested hillside with tall evergreen trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Flexible by design

The RDF can run as a full two-day engagement or be adapted to fit a shorter format. It works equally well as a pre-project preparation workshop or a mid-course reset when something has stopped working. While the 6 Phases are initially done with the procuring party - it is possible to develop an Invitation to other parties to engage in this workshop in a multi-party format. Format, depth, and sequencing are always shaped around the specific team and context.

What your team leaves with

01 Clarity on your own position

A shared understanding of your team’s interests, values, and desired outcomes.

02 Genuine insight into other parties

An empathy-grounded picture of what the other parties likely need, fear, and value.

03 Scenarios mapped and prepared for

The most likely pressure points identified and options developed before you need them.

04 A concrete deployment plan

A clear, actionable plan built to prevent conflict before it starts.

A landscape with green grass, several small buildings, a frozen body of water, and snow-capped mountains under a clear blue sky.

A good fit when…

Your team is preparing to engage parties whose sustained support or cooperation you need but where conflict is possible or likely
A project is in early planning and you want to build the conditions for success from the start
A project is underway and engagement has not been going as well as hoped
Past approaches have generated resistance or conflict that slowed things down

Standard Workshop Details:

Average group size: 2 to 8 people
Length: Two days
Format: In-person or virtual

Your facilitator

A smiling man with a shaved head and beard, wearing a dark blue shirt outdoors with blurred trees in the background.

Matthew Parent

Matthew Parent is a Qualified Mediator and dialogue facilitator with over a decade of experience in environmental governance, Indigenous rights, and multi-party decision-making across Canada and internationally.

Matthew has worked alongside proponents, Indigenous governments, and public institutions on processes where the stakes were high and the relationships had to hold.

Matthew designed the Relational Decision Framework Workshop by drawing on his experiences and training with the mutual gains negotiation approach (Harvard Program on Negotiation), interest-based and relational mediation (Équijustice), Gestalt awareness practice, Non-Violent Communication and pluripartiality frameworks. These are grounded in over a decade of field experience across community justice, environmental governance, and international climate processes, and shaped by a relational approach to conflict that centres long-term relationships, genuine care for all parties, and a biocentric understanding of what is ultimately at stake in the decisions we help people make.

Interested?

Every Relational Decision Framework Workshop is designed specifically for the team, the project, and the parties involved. Fill out the form and tell us about your situation — where things stand, who's at stake, and what you're trying to achieve. Together, we can design a session built around your context.