Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

Mediation is a process in which a neutral party helps to facilitate a settlement. To accomplish this, the mediator tries to develop an attitude among participants that encourages agreement. When a skilled mediator builds consensus through agreement on convening letters, ground rules and environmental impact statement scope in environmental disputes, participants see that agreements are possible. By delaying the "deal breaker" issues until well into the negotiations, sufficient time and energy have been invested so that parties begin searching for ways to reach agreement. In this case study, skills in labor mediation were transferred to a complex environmental dispute involving a portion of the historic Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail.