Project Purpose
Central Colorado Conservancy (CCC) is seeking a skilled facilitator on a contract basis to support the Upper Arkansas Watershed Partnership (UAWP) with strategic planning and facilitation integrating study results from across the watershed in Chaffee County into a multiyear, conservation strategy to enhance project coordination and watershed resilience in the upper Arkansas headwaters region. This process will create collaborative partnerships and develop a set of actionable priorities. The UAWP formed in 2020 with the purpose of fostering collaboration among regional agencies, organizations, governments, and landowners in the Upper Arkansas River Basin to enhance management actions to achieve a healthy and resilient watershed.
The following completed studies and assessments will be utilized to inform the process:
• Stream Health Assessment
• Fluvial Hazard Zone Mapping
• Agriculture Resiliency Assessment
A wide range of stakeholders in the upper Arkansas watershed will be engaged to amplify the overall positive impact potential of protection and restoration projects across the valley based on the above assessments or potential new, relevant information.
The funding for this contract comes from the Network for Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund and is exclusively for the purpose of engaging the community and partner organizations with the UAWP.
Scope of Project
The existing leadership of the UAWP is at a pivotal moment where the results of the studies funded internally (fluvial hazard mapping, river heath assessments, and agricultural needs assessments) provide an opportunity to transition the partners from learning to action. The UAWP intends to use the results of these (and other) assessments to inform the development of a plan that identifies conservation and watershed protection priorities along those tributaries.
The UAWP is adopting a “strategic doing” framework, which will allow for parallel work on firming up governance structures and process design while also rapidly and iteratively identifying, prioritizing, and launching projects (on the ground projects, learning projects, advocacy projects) so that we are able to both strategize and act at the same time, learning as we go.
The UAWP facilitator awarded this contract will be responsible for:
• Supporting of UAWP leadership team with strategic conversation facilitation
• Engaging more partners
• Gaining consensus from the UAWP partners on the conservation plan
• Drafting the conservation plan in a user-friendly format for review by partners
• Outlining a public engagement strategy for the conservation plan
• Gaining consensus on the charter and an operational model required to implement the conservation plan, across all partner organizations
Anticipated activities and meetings include:
• Establish, monitor, and provide accountability for tasks and actions, ensuring forward momentum on implementation of priority projects and activities
• Plan, facilitate, and provide action items for up to four 4-hour in person meetings in Salida or Buena Vista to finish laying initial groundwork, address topics of common concern, and have a midpoint check-in on progress (to be spaced and scheduled collectively with group)
• Up to six (6) 90-minute Zoom calls to monitor progress, hold each other accountable, and discuss/address challenges and problems as they arise
• Plan, facilitate, and provide follow up for a final full-day meeting in Buena Vista or Salida to celebrate progress made, update/identify new or emerging priorities, and plan for the year ahead • Set up and monitor online communication and task management communication protocols and/ or platforms, as requested by the group
Instructions to Applicants
Applicants are encouraged to propose creative approaches to creating collaborative partnerships among many individual strong and well-led organizations. Please submit a proposal, no more than 3 pages, highlighting the following:
• Your prior relevant experience
• Your approach to ensuring equitable representation and participating during focus groups
• Your approach to collecting qualitative and quantitative data during focus groups
• Your approach to translating qualitative and quantitative data into recommendations
• A detailed timeline for the project, to be completed no later than 30 November 2023
• A budget reflecting time, materials (and travel if relevant) outlined in your proposal. *Project is grant funded, contact Natalie with questions.
• Decision will be based on merit and experience, not solely lowest cost
Please email your proposal with UAWP Facilitation in the subject line to Natalie Allio, at natalie@centralcoloradoconservancy.org by 5:00 pm MST on March 22, 2023.
Timeline
RFP Released: March 3, 2023
RFP Due: March 22, 2023
RFP Awarded: March 31, 2023
Execution of work: April 1 – November 30, 2023
Final Presentation: December 1, 2023