179 September 2007 Perspectives on the art of facilitation: a Delphi study of natural resource management facilitators A. Rixon, T.F. Smith, B. McKenzie, R. Sample, P. Scott and S. Burn* T he new regional arrangements for natural resource management (NRM) in Australia have been built upon a premise of community-based management, reflecting the increase in participatory approaches and citizen involvement within NRM. Given this increase there is still a paucity of literature regarding the field of facilitation for researchers and practitioners currently working within participatory frameworks in NRM. A Delphi survey technique was used to conduct an Australia-wide study on NRM facilitation. The study highlighted that NRM facilitators often preformed a multiplicity of potentially conflicting roles (e.g. facilitator and change agent). Many challenges were also identified by study participants, such as institutional dysfunction and overloading community volunteers. However, a number of facilitation strategies were also identified, such as stakeholder mapping and capacity audits, as a means to combat the challenges. While the facilitation challenges were framed within the context of NRM, the strategies to improve facilitation may be transferable to other sectors and applications. Keywords: facilitation, Delphi method, natural resource management Table 1 provides some examples of research on participatory processes for NRM. Participatory NRM approaches have emerged as useful ways to utilise existing knowledge bases within communities (Versfeld 1995; Hegarty 1997; Fernald 1998). Utilising participatory management approaches enables communities living within catchments to share their knowledge and be involved in planning and management processes. It has been shown that engaging communities can provide extremely valuable information on their specific catchment problems which also are useful in the context of other NRM projects (Berkes et al. 2001). In other words, the combination of involvement and recognition is more likely to equate to ownership, and both personal and collective responsibility. Several valuable social outcomes from participatory management approaches have been identified: ■ developing acceptance, trust and respect (O’Riordan et al. 1997; Zayac et al. 2002) ■ developing a sense of ownership for participants (Yercan 2003) ■ effecting change in attitudes towards management (Abdelhadi et al. 2004) ■ reducing and managing disputes and conflicts in water management (Reynoso 2000; Tanaka et al. 2003) ■ contributing to social learning (Milbrath 1989; Lee 1993; Wenger 1998; Blackmore and Ison 2004; Smith and Lazarow 2004). However, the goal of effective participation presents a number of challenges relating to issues of trust, respect, representation, equity, capacity, knowledge-sharing, transparency, and subsidiarity (see for example Wondolleck and Yaffee 2000; Commission of the European Communities 2001; Bellamy et al . 2005), which if not adequately addressed may potentially lead to coercion or disempowerment. As discussed by Cleaver (1999), there is a clear need for a better understanding of the complexity of issues surrounding efficiency and empowerment in participatory approaches. A survey by Johnson et al . (2002) demonstrated that out of 17 watershed research projects * Andrew Rixon is with Babel Fish Group Pty Ltd, PO Box 12448, A’Beckett Street PO, Melbourne. Tim Smith is with the Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland. Stewart Burn is with Integrated Urban Water Systems, CSIRO-Land and Water, Highett, Victoria. Bruce McKenzie, Royce Sample and Pennie Scott are consultants. Email: Andrew@babelfishgroup.com Introduction Participatory natural resource management (NRM) encourages the involvement of stakeholders in determining the scope of particular issues, analysis of problems, development of strategies, and the implementation of actions to improve the condition and sustainable use of natural resources. Participation and participatory management approaches are becoming more accepted by all tiers of government, as their contribution to the achievement of sustainable NRM is recognised, both within the NRM literature and by communities.