Participatory research on collaborative environmental management: Results from the Adirondack Park

In seeking to trace linkages among groups involved with environmental management in New York State's Adirondack Park, we developed a participatory exercise and employed it at a recent Adirondack research conference. Fourteen organizations took part, collectively representing 72 linkages associated with policies and programs, expertise, information dissemination, and physical facilities. The exercise revealed a dense "hub-and-spoke" pattern of interactions, with state agencies acting as the hubs. The exercise is easy to administer and can be used to provide a one-time snapshot of organizational interactions as well as serving as a basis for longitudinal research.