This is a roundtable discussion that builds on recent work by Community Science in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation to better understand what meaningful participation looks like in practice across natural resource decisionmaking processes. The conversation is designed for funders at different stages of engagement—whether you are actively funding this work, exploring how to support it, or reflecting on how your current strategies intersect with these questions.

We will share findings from a recently published Brief for Funders to learn and support a lightly structured, dialogue-centered space for funders to step back from day-to-day demands and reflect together on a core set of questions:

• How is inclusion defined by those most affected by natural resource management decisions?
• What makes engagement feel genuine—and when does it fall short?
• What role can philanthropy play in supporting more meaningful and durable decisionmaking?

At a time when the environmental field is navigating rapid change, competing pressures, and an increasingly complex and dynamic landscape, the quality of participation in decisionmaking spaces has direct implications for the durability and legitimacy of outcomes. When engagement is meaningful and sustained, it can strengthen both outcomes and the relationships needed to carry them forward.

During this session, we will:

• Ground in lived experience through voices from communities and practitioners
• Share a brief synthesis of key themes from recent research on inclusive decisionmaking
• Engage in a facilitated peer conversation on what funders are seeing in practice

The discussion will explore:

• Where inclusive decisionmaking is working—and what made it possible
• Where it has been more challenging—and why
• How funding approaches shape who can participate, whose knowledge is recognized, and who has influence

We don’t have all the answers and we’re not doing everything perfectly. This conversation is an opportunity to learn from one another’s experiences, what’s working, what’s harder than it looks, and where there may be opportunities to move the work forward, individually and together.

**This is a funder-only conversation designed to support candid dialogue. Cameras are welcome but not required.**

We will not share, rent, or sell your contact information. The answers you provide here are kept in confidence and are used to help us provide you with a better webinar experience. 

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