News & Blog

Why the Sustainable Development Goals have unlocked the transfer of partnering knowledge

What is a partnering agreement? A letter of intent, an MOU, a legal document, a contract for services – or something else? This is a question that can be difficult to answer for any organisation.

‘Trust’ is one of the most misunderstood dimensions of partnerships. Trust is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for effective partnering. So what is its function?

What are the four essential attributes that an individual needs for effective partnering?

Multi-stakeholder partnering requires step-by-step engagement processes to get all actors on board. What do we need to take care of to make such engagement successful?

There's no magic formula to partnering: while tools and technical guidance can support us along the way, what really matters is responsiveness, flexibility and tenacity of the key players in order to respond to a complex and rapidly-changing environment.

Partnerships are ultimately about shaping the quality of a conversation that allows different perspectives to be heard and understood, and then debated – leading to new ideas and better ways of resolving issues in response to changing contexts.

Who knows best whether or not a partnership is being or has been ‘effective’? How is ‘effectiveness’ best understood, measured and communicated? And, perhaps as importantly, who has the right to decide which partnerships are ‘effective’? Those who are benefitting? Those who are partnering? Those who provide funding? Those who are not benefitting, partnering or providing funding?