Planning and managing for resilient natural resources and communities in the USA: the EPA Organon

Abstract

The EPA Organon is a collaborative framework for resilience planning created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to advance partner-centered collaborations to protect human health and the environment. An “organon” is a thought instrument, and in the case of the EPA Organon is comprised of an organizing structure, guiding principles, information resources, and project examples that are used to improve coordinated flow of information between science and implementation to inform continuous evaluation and improvement of adaptive management outcomes. It does so by providing basic orientation to key principles of resilience-based planning and action, a structure for iterative program evaluations to fill gaps and improve integration of work streams, and a logic model for working with subject matter experts on strategic design of projects on the ground. This paper introduces the Organon as a practical tool for integrated environmental and social science research, including its structure, content, flow process, and preliminary results of partner applications to date in the areas of natural resource management and inclusive collaboration. Lessons learned and next steps for expanding the Organon’s use into the spheres of public health and evaluation are also discussed, along with reflections on the value of this type of planning system for the broader adaptation community of practice.