Photo of Patrick Field

Patrick Field

Senior Mediator

Patrick Field is a Senior Mediator at the Consensus Building Institute and Associate Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. For 24 years, he has built consensus and collaboration capacity on complex public and organizational issues in the U.S. and Canada. His primary focus is building agreements on and finding solutions for the built and natural environment across sectors, interests, disciplines, and organizations. 

Areas of Focus

Leading CBI’s U.S. practice, Patrick mediates and facilitates public engagement and stakeholder processes on natural resource, land use, transportation, energy, and water issues across the United States and Canada. He frequently works with and between local, regional, state, and federal governments.  He is particularly adept at designing and facilitating processes that integrate technical complexity, community involvement, and agency decision-making.  He has worked with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defense, and others. He has worked extensively with Native American and First Nation communities and governments. Patrick has worked with major industrial sectors in energy, mining, construction and development, and food and agriculture.  His cases have involved energy facility siting, Superfund cleanup, river, estuarine and groundwater restoration, food system and sustainable agriculture policy and programs, land use and transportation projects and policy, and wildlife management.   

Patrick also helps organizations improve their effectiveness and manage change, redesign decision processes and systems, and establish collaboratives across sectors and interests.  He works with nonprofits, government agencies, and private entities to improve their negotiation skills and procedures.  Patrick helps organizations internally explore and hone strategic direction in the face of opportunity and threat. He also helps organizations analyze, revise, or re-create their stakeholder processes. He has worked on strategic planning for state and federal agencies and nonprofits; governance for PJM and MISO, two large regional electric transmission private entities; and reform of the federal budget process. 

Exemplary Projects

  • PJM Governance Process Assessment, Redesign, and Implementation
  • U.S. EPA, U.S. Army corps and States and Tribes Assumable Waters under CWA Section 404(g)1
  • Funding for the repair, renovation, and new construction of Indian schools
  • PCB Cleanup of the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers’ Superfund sites
  • Project on Nutrition and Wellness:  Increasing Consumer Demand for Healthier Eating
  • U.S. Northeast Regional Oceans Plan
  • Developing a national monitoring and modeling plan for U.S. Bat populations
  • New Hampshire Energy Siting Evaluation Committee Review 

Clients

The following is a partial list of clients:

Federal Agencies

  • U.S. Air Force
  • U.S. Army
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Veterans Affairs
  • Housing and Urban Development
  • Department of Interior
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • Department of Agriculture 

State Governments

  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Connecticut
  • Vermont
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Georgia
  • Florida
  • Ohio
  • Kentucky
  • Minnesota
  • Michigan
  • Colorado
  • Texas
  • Idaho

Nonprofit Organizations

  • National Wildlife Federation
  • World Wildlife Fund
  • Oxfam
  • National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
  • Farm to Institution New England

Companies

  • Ahold
  • McDonalds
  • Campbell’s
  • Shell
  • Exxon
  • Chevron
  • Genetech
  • IBM
  • Capital One
  • Bridgestone
  • Pfizer
  • United Distillers
  • Canadian Bankers Association
  • National Mining Association
  • American Petroleum Institute
  • Grocery Manufacturer’s Association
  • PJM
  • MISO

Education and Affiliations

Patrick is listed on the roster of conflict resolution professionals of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Interior. He holds an M.C.P. in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. summa cum laude from Carleton College. 

Books and Articles