Working with a variety of people from across the cultural, political and geographical landscape of Canada is at the core of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC) success in the conservation work it has achieved. Maintaining relationships while honouring all the varying perspectives at the table is skilled work, and they want to provide their staff with the best possible tools to negotiate sensitive conversations.

Some recent negotiations invited discussions about the need for negotiation training for the NCC Alberta staff. Specific challenges included: staff who were unclear about how to prepare for negotiations; staff struggled with weighing the relationship vs the best substantive deal; unclear when to walk away from a negotiation; unclear who should be consulted within NCC as part of a negotiation process and/or who should negotiate from the other side; and unclear what information can/should be shared as part of a negotiation.

These examples highlight the barriers that can easily arise in the day-to-day nature of the conservation work they do and the complexities that can arise from the collaborative nature of their process. Negotiation training for their staff gave confidence and empowered those who undertook these conversations every day and made their work more efficient and effective in the long-term.

The training facilitated by the Springboard Grant primarily affected NCC's future Conservation Easement projects- both in the securement of new lands and working with existing partners to continue effective stewardship measures on properties with existing easements. Other avenues of work that will be positively impacted by the negotiation training for staff will be their work with partners, particularly as they engage with Indigenous Nations across the province particularly as these conversations are always unique to the people involved and range from complex topics such as harvest land use, land back pathways and future co-management and stewardship of cultural and ancestral sites.

The heart of the work at NCC revolves around creating Nature-based Solutions and facilitating lasting Conservation outcomes through the direct conservation and stewardship of land. By empowering staff to confidently, meaningfully and professionally engage in complex conversations around this work, they are set up for more successful outcomes toward this goal.