Imperiled Promise

"Where will that conversation unfold? In the wake of the Second Century Commission’s report, which proposed a Center for Innovation “to gather and share lessons learned quickly throughout the organization,” NPS has launched the Network for Innovation and Creativity (a pilot phase now hosted by the Conservation Study Institute in Woodstock, Vermont), a “bold and forward-thinking initiative, with the goal to rapidly share knowledge, new approaches, and insights from practical experience to solve mission-critical problems and advance organizational excellence.”60 “By supporting a higher level of peer-to-peer collaboration across the national park system,” planners hope that the “network will encourage and share innovation and improve performance.” Practitioners will harness an “internet platform of blogs, discussion forums, wikis, and other tools” as well as “video conferencing, telephone, email, and face-to-face meetings” to disseminate new ideas, insights and strategies for success.

"Although not the ambitious Center for Innovation envisioned by the Second Century Commissioners, perhaps this network will flourish and prove a resource for creative practi- tioners across the agency. And the projects featured above might provide some good starting places. To be sure, one’s peers can be a powerful source of inspiration and information, and it is critically important to transfer the knowledge gained by the agency’s most innovative practitioners to their counterparts elsewhere in NPS."

A.M. Mitchell, M.R. Miller, G.B. Nash, D. Thelen. 2011. Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Park Service. Organization of American Historians. page 51