What We Do
Courses
MUSIC offers two kinds of courses and develops teaching materials that can be used in a wide range of university-based and community-based educational programs. At MIT, we have developed a year-long seminar on Joint Fact Finding that helps to teach graduate level students in a range of professional degree programs about the best ways of handling scientific and technical controversies surrounding public policy decisions of various kinds. We also offer training for governmental employees who get involved in these kinds of controversies (see Courses). MUSIC has also developed Teaching Simulations that can be used to help community residents learn more about the scientific or technical issues being debated in various public policy controversies, like the decision to build American's first off-shore wind farm in federal waters.
Projects
MUSIC graduate interns are involved in scoping possible Joint Fact Finding Projects in various parts of the country. At the moment we are looking at five possible JFF projects, including the the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts and the Long Island Power Authority in New York. MUSIC faculty and interns work closely with the Consensus Building Institute so that once a potential JFF project is identified a team of experienced environmental mediators will be availble to move forward with the project.