Alan M - Head of Nature Restoration/Trees for Life
I work in an arena where emotions run deep, and often can become highly charged. Conflicts are common, often held beneath the surface where they bubble away and sabotage meaningful dialogue and progress.
Promoting change, the main aspect of my work, is routinely frustrated by deeply entrenched and complex differences between stakeholder groups. Bridging the divides between them was always extremely slow and difficult going.
I think of Paul as a navigator for these challenging human landscapes, where values collide, and where change might be necessary but is rarely wanted. He showed me how to find common cause with those I'd previously seen as being ‘the problem on the other side'.
He didn't hand me any answers, but made me reflect and consider the blind spots and assumptions driving my own attitudes and behaviours, which I now see were sometimes counter productive to the achievement of my own outcomes.
After 20 years in my profession, working for the government and more recently for NGO’s, I realised that my personal commitment and my scientific approach alone were not getting me where I felt it was necessary to go, especially against a background of increasing urgency.
Paul’s skill and experience helped me to genuinely understand others' world views, and map out ways of forming sincere collaborative relationships with people who would once have given me a wide and wary berth. As a result my work has opened new dimensions of possibility.
I now have the tried and tested skills and insight that enable me to form new, unusual and therefore powerful alliances, beyond any I previously imagined, which leaves me with a sense of optimism and adventure toward the future.”
Alan McDonnell - Programme Manage / Affric Highlands - Trees for Life / Rewilding Europe
