More than 20 stakeholders gathered in San Diego last month for the fourth Community Leaders Network Workshop. One objective of the workshop was to inform participants of the U.S. Department of Energy's new approach to environmental research and technology development, which concentrates on five major remediation and waste management focus areas. Workshop participants also spent time clarifying the Community Leaders Network function.
The Community Leaders Network is an informally structured group from areas around DOE sites with interest and experience in technology development. Workshops allow network members to interact with managers in DOE's Office of Technology Development and comment on OTD activities. High on the agenda of the December 1994 workshop was the network's future role as an OTD stakeholder group. Together with Office of Technology Transfer and Program Integration Director Tom Parker, members discussed several areas in which they can contribute to OTD programs and decided to develop an agreement outlining DOE and network responsibilities. Parker told the group DOE now has staff supporting the CLN, including workshop moderator Dr. Barbara Frank, OTD's new public participation coordinator.
The group also heard from Steve Stein and Gretchen McCabe of Battelle-Seattle and Pat Serie of Environmental Issues Management, who asked the group for ideas regarding a stakeholder involvement strategy for DOE's focus areas. Stein and McCabe explained the Site Technology Coordination Groups, whose main functions will be to assess technology needs at DOE sites and facilitate deployment of new technologies. Participants exchanged ideas about Site Technology Coordination Group size, membership, and roles, and discussed how the network could work with the coordination groups.
Before adjourning, participants discussed ideas for future workshops and emphasized the importance of DOE reporting to the group on any action resulting from input and ideas from previous CLN meetings. The next workshop, scheduled for spring 1995 in Washington, D.C., will allow network members to talk with DOE managers about OTD's direction and meet with leaders of the focus area management teams. The group will also discuss network membership, plan future meetings at DOE sites, and continue to examine its mission.
