Today Wal-Mart released a self published "progress report" on its controversial environmental sustainability efforts. According to The WaPost, Wal-Mart is making significant progress in some areas but lagging in others. From a PR standpoint, the Wal-Mart report is interesting in that it shows how the company is embracing groups, such as the National Defense Resource Council and Oxfam, that might not normally be associated with the behemoth retailer. This move is part of a growing trend in public relations that entails companies embracing "adversarial" groups to gain a more clear understanding of the challenges that face their PR efforts and come up with creative solutions to solving problems.