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Policy Academy Record
The MSWG Research Committee and Academy have a record that began in 1997.  The Joyce Foundation of Chicago funded the Academy's design, piloting and launch.  Earlier, MSWG's Research committee set the stage.  Both engage business, government and environmental organizations in their work and partner with universities to connect theory to practice and scholars to practitioners.  An introductory brochure for the Academy is here.  Examples of the MSWG Policy Academy's work follow:
March 2005 Harvard "Laws & Regs" Dialogue
The MSWG Policy Academy, UMass Lowell, and the JFK School at Harvard University, convened a dialogue on how existing US laws and regulations help or hinder environmental progress.  Full report here.
Feb. 2005 Pace Univ. "Sorting Tools" Dialogue
In February, 2005 the MSWG Policy Academy sponsored a dialogue on sorting tools to improve environmental performance.  It was held at Pace University School of Law and involved some of the country’s most knowledgeable experts in using new tools and old tools in new ways.  Full report here.
CERES Report on EVEMS & FRP

The Policy Academy supported the work of CERES and the Pacific Institute to evaluate and test the MSWG External Value Environmental Management System (EVEMS) in connection with the CERES Facility Reporting Project. A report on the Facility Reporting Project/EVEMS Stakeholder Outreach Workshops can be seen by clicking here.

Madison, WI Forum: 2005
"Environmental Law in a Connected World" was held with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs.
Cambridge, MA dialogue: 2005
"Environmental Innovation: A Dialogue on the Role of Law, Regulatory Approaches and Government" was held at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Second Summit: 2003
"Leveraging the Private Sector: Management Based Strategies for Improving Environmental Performance" was convened by Harvard University and held at Resources for the Future in Washington, DC.
Albany, NY Dialogue 2002: Tools to Improve Environmental Management

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), in partnership with The Council of State Governments (CSG) and MSWG, hosted a day-long dialogue on innovative environmental management tools in Albany, NY on November 20, 2002.  The full report is here.

Sacramento, CA dialogue: 2002
"Tools to Improve Environmental Performance: Expectations and Obstacles" was convened through the Pacific Institute.
Chicago, IL dialogue: 2002
"Curriculum Needs of the Academy Dialogue" was held at the Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal law firm.
Philadelphia, PA dialogue: 2001
"Covenanting the Future: Reforming Environmental Regulation through Innovative Resource and Land Management" was held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and co-sponsored by the University of Virginia Law School, American Bar Association, National Governor's Association and Environmental Council of States.
RFF Book: Leveraging the Private Sector
Initiated by MSWG Policy Academy workshops, this new book published by Resources For the Future offers the first sustained analysis of public & private sector initiatives designed to encourage firms & industries to use their own management expertise to improve their environmental performance.  Ed: C. Coglianese & J. Nash
ECOS-Policy Academy Project on Results of Innovation
The Multi-State Working Group (MWSG) Policy Academy Board of Regents and the Cross Media Committee (CMC) of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) are co-sponsoring a project to document the results of environmental innovation. The project is intended to answer the following three questions:  a) Do performance-based programs produce better environmental results? If so, what is the nature of those improved results? c) How are the environmental results of performance-based programs best measured? d) Which techniques and approaches are the most effective means of communicating the environmental results of performance-based programs?  Draft proposal here.
First Summit: 1999
"Regulating from the Inside," published by Resources for the Future, came from the summit at the Brookings Instiute in Washington, DC.
Research Roundtables: 1998
Six roundtables attracted scholars from 39 universities and think tanks to recomend a national research agenda.
Adam Smith - Rachel Carson Ecological Due-Diligence Iinitative
The Adam Smith-Rachel Carson Initiative is a project being developed to conduct a two-year search for the words and metrics that describe companies with environmental and management records that favorably differentiate them from others in the eyes of the financial sector and community.  For more information, click here.
EMS Pilot Projects: 1997 - 2002
Seventeen states collected data from 83 facilities with environmental management systems that were analyzed by the university of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
National Database on Environmental Management Systems
The National Database on Environmental Management Systems is maintained by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Environmental Law Institute through a U.S. EPA grant. Pilot project participants contribute performance data to the database.
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