Anyone who saw news coverage of the 2001 Nisqually earthquake saw that Seattle has gorgeous old buildings made with unreinforced masonry (URM) – and that they weren’t built to withstand a seismic event. The City of Seattle created a stakeholder group to analyze and provide recommendations for development of a URM seismic retrofit policy that protects these historical buildings.
EnviroIssues was brought on board to work with the group, develop a work plan for the committee, create meeting agendas and facilitate meetings that built consensus around a set of practical, implementable recommendations. The work also included facilitating subcommittee groups – necessary to discuss some topics in greater detail – and drafting the recommendations report for the staff and the Seattle City Council.
What makes EnviroIssues particularly good at facilitating groups like this one? Experience and knowledge. Our team brings decades of experience in building consensus around difficult topics. And we also have really smart people who know things about building codes and seismically retrofitting a building. That gives us solid ground to stand on, even when the topic concerns ground that’s, well, shaky!
