David Laws (Ph.D. 1998, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Before coming to Amsterdam, he worked at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Sloan School of Management at MIT and with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. His research focuses on the relationship between negotiation and conflict resolution, public administration, and democratic governance. He has worked as a consultant for the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Air National Guard, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Ministry of VROM.

Articles and publications

"Policy and Practice," in M. Moran, R. Goodin, and M.Rein (eds) Oxford Handbook of Public Policy, (Oxofrd: Oxford University Press. (with M. Hajer)
"Policy Frame and Discourse," in M. Moran, R. Goodin, and M.Rein (eds) Oxford Handbook of Public Policy, (Oxofrd: Oxford University Press. (with M. Hajer)
"The Practice of Innovation: Institutions, policy, and technology development," in A. Slob and P.P. Verbeek (eds) User Behavior and Technology Design. (Kluwer 2005)
"Reframing Practice", in M. Hajer and H. Wagenaar (eds) Deliberative Policy Analysis, (Cambridge University Press: 2002) (with M. Rein)
"Public Entrepreneurship Networks," Reportto the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, The Netherlands," April, 2001.
"Controversy, Reframing, and Reflection," in W. Salet and A. Fauldi (eds) The Revival of Strategic Spatial Planning. Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 2000. (with M. Rein)
"The Representation of Stakeholding Interests" in L.Susskind, S. McKearnan, and J. Thomas-Larner (eds.) The Consensus Building Handbook. (Sage: 1999)
Planning in the Shadow of the Future: Intergenerational Ethics and Environmental Decision-Making, PhD. Dissertation. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. June, 1998
"Research for Policy and Practice" in David Tucker et al eds. Integrating Knowledge and Practice Westport Conn: Praeger 1997. (with Martin Rein).
"The Historical Present". Invited presentation. Journees d'etudes juridiques Jean Dabin: The Proceduralization of Law. Centre de Philosophie du Droit, Universite Catholique de Louvain, October, 1997.
Methods and Techniques for Decision Makingin Public Participation Processes. Center of Technology Assessment, Baden-Wurttemberg. Invited speaker.
"The Practice of Fairness," Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Vol 16 no. 2. 1996.
"Talking With the Future: Sustainability and Stewardship as Intergenerational Dialogue," National Forum: The Phi Kappa Phi Journal (1995).(with Lawrence Susskind)
"A Political Conception of Intergenerational Obligations," Invited paper. Annual Meeting of the American Nuclear Society, Philadelphia, PA June 1995.
David Laws and Ambuj D. Sagar, eds. Human Health and the Environment: Unanswered Questions, Unquestioned Answers. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Special
Issue, Volume 14, Numbers 5/6, September, November 1994.
"Responsabilite transgenerationnelle et decisions publiques," Communications: Generations et filiation, 59, 1994.
"Siting Solid Waste Management Facilities in the U.S.," in McGraw Hill Handbook of Integrated Solid Waste Management, F. Krieth ed, 1994. (with Lawrence Susskind)
"Future Generations and Public Decision-Making," Presented at the Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Philadelphia, PA November, 1993.
"Changing Perspectives onthe Facility Siting Process," Maine Policy Review, Volume 1, Number 1, December, 1991. (with Lawrence Susskind)
Information Resources and Landscape Planning: An Integrated Approach to Development and Application. Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station Research Bulletin Number 732. 1990. (with Julius Fabos, and Meir Gross)
"The Antarctic Minerals Regime Negotiations," in Nine Case Studies in International Environmental Negotiations, Lawrence E. Susskind, Esther Siskind, and J. William Breslin eds. 1990
"Information Resources and Public Decision-Making," Proceedings of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, 1989. (with Julius Fabos, and Meir Gross)

Research & consulting

RESEARCH
Amsterdam Centre for Conflict Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Founder and Director. 2006 - present
Environmental Technology and Public Policy Program, Department of Urban Studies and
Planning, MIT. Director. 1996 - 2007
Alliance for Global Sustainability
Comparative research on institutional innovation and technology development. 1999-present
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Project on comparative environmental governance.
Current.
Directorate Strategic Planning
Ministry of Housing, Spatial, Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands. 1999-2001.
Future Generations in the Present, a workshop sponsored by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, and the Future Generations Alliance Foundation, Osaka, Japan. Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
May 1994. Director
National Workshop on Facility Siting, Department of Urban Studies and Planning,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Research Associate, 1989-1994.
Deciding for the Future: Balancing Risks and Benefits Fairly Across Generations, National Academy of Public Administration, Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs, and U.S. Department of Energy DesignShop. 1994
Pew/Carnegie Project on International Compliance and Dispute Settlement, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School. Pew Research Associate 1991-93
Center for Rural Massachachusetts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Research Associate, 1989-90.
METLAND Research Group, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Research Assistant 1986-1989

CONSULTING
United States Environmental Protection Agency , 2000-2001.
Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993 - 1995
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, 1994.
U.S. Agency for International Development, Environmental Policy and Technology Project, 1993 - 1994.
U.S. Air National Guard, 1993; 2000.
Environmental Resources Management Ltd., London, U.K., 1990.
Ecologia Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, 1989.

The Public Mediation Programme (PMP) is a joint initiative of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. It is a dedicated programme on public mediation, where research and practice are intertwined.

PMP seeks to develop the practice and profession of public mediation in the Netherlands by:

• deepening the understanding of public disputes
• providing training to public officials and practitioners
• giving practical support

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