The Penn Program on Regulation hosted three dialogue sessions during the winter and spring of 2015 to foster interactive discussion among both international experts and interested individuals and organizations in Alberta on the attributes of a Best-in-Class regulator and the metrics for evaluating a regulator’s success in achieving Best-in-Class status. Each of these sessions was followed by the public release of a detailed report synthesizing the key issues discussed, the main themes from each dialogue, and the perspectives shared and trade-offs identified.
- International Expert Dialogue, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This two-day, invitation-only expert dialogue was held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia in March, 2015. Moderated by Cary Coglianese, it involved intensive dialogue among a diverse group of about thirty academic experts, regulatory officials, industry representatives, environmental group leaders, and other experts from Canada, the U.S. and around the world. A summary report on this dialogue session is available online.
More than a dozen international experts attending this dialogue session wrote discussion papers that provide keen insights on defining and measuring regulatory excellence. For a list of these contributing authors, click here. A series of discussion papers they prepared in advance of the dialogue is also available online. They subsequently developed their discussion papers into longer papers that eventually appeared as chapters in “Achieving Regulatory Excellence”, a book edited by Professor Cary Coglianese and published by the Brookings Institution Press in 2016.
- Aboriginal Dialogue in Alberta
Harris Sokoloff, Co-founder and Director of Catalyst Community Conversations (formerly the Penn Project for Civic Engagement – PPCE), facilitated an interactive dialogue with about two dozen representatives of Aboriginal peoples in March to work through key issues of energy regulation from their perspectives. The dialogue combined an opening presentation with group discussion. A summary report as well as a visual graphic summation from this dialogue session are available online.
- Alberta Dialogue, Calgary, Alberta
This meeting was held on April 12-14, 2015, in Calgary and brought together a diverse group of up to eighty representatives from the Alberta public. Invited attendees included representatives of the following groups: landowners, industry, environmental groups, Aboriginal peoples, municipal officials, academic experts, and other concerned citizens. The dialogue combined plenary panel discussions with small-group breakout discussions. Plenary presentations were video-recorded and made available online to facilitate additional public input. A summary report of this dialogue is available online.
- Peer Review Session, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A draft of the final convenor’s report was circulated to about ten experts from around the world who convened for a discussion of the draft report.