Cross-sector collaboration is not new – indeed, some might argue that a level of social, cultural and economic inter-dependence has always been fundamental to social organisation. But during the latter part of the 20th Century, with increasing pressures on the natural environment together with growing social and economic inequities, the need for integrated solutions to global problems has become more obvious and more urgent.

In countries where there is a healthy and diverse business sector, an active civil society and an effective government, cross-sector partnerships are most likely to flourish (often, as in the UK, under the guise of the title ‘public: private partnerships’). They may be a logical way to proceed, but even so they are rarely a quick fix. Many ‘developed world’ governments are learning this at some cost. This is in largely because each sector has its own way of operating and (understandably) relinquishes its own working culture and relative autonomy with some reluctance. Too many cross-sector activities described as ‘partnerships’ are in fact more a case of ‘business as usual’ with a new name.

In these situations, if partnerships are to have any real depth or value, those involved need to understand more profoundly the potential of cross-sector collaboration for breaking through to new, more radical and dynamic solutions.

Partnering: A way of managing change

In locations undergoing major economic or political transformation, partnership has been seen (and used) as an effective mechanism for change. This is because partnership approaches have provided opportunities for business, government and civil society to radically reconsider their core roles in society and arrive at more fundamental and innovative approaches to the development challenges they face. These partnership experiences have a lot to offer by way of experiment and example.

Once the value of cross-sector collaboration has been established, whether as a mechanism for innovation or for sustainable solutions or both, working practically across traditional sectoral boundaries can bring unexpected, and often ultimately constructive, challenges as well as benefits.  Such collaboration typically requires changes in terms of both organisational and individual behaviour, moving towards more consultation, consensus decision-making and shared responsibility for inputs and outputs.

Our global context can only benefit from less fragmentation and unilateralism. Indeed, partnering as an increasingly global paradigm may come to be seen as the critical pathway to a more sustainable planet.

Partnering for Sustainable Development

In 1992 the UN Conference on Environment and Development – the Rio Earth Summit – placed partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society as central to achieving global sustainable development. This has been echoed by successive summits on population, urban development, gender, social development, and most recently and most vigorously, at the Rio follow-up summit held in Johannesburg in 2002.

In our view, cross sector collaboration is likely to be the only approach that has a hope of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the single most important thing in building partnerships is in the capacity building of individuals, from every sector, to prepare them for operating in new ways.

"The United Nations once dealt only with Governments. By now we know that peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnerships involving governments, international organizations, the business community and civil society. In today's world, we depend on each other." Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

"Cross-sector partnering, as a way of building on the best aspects of globalization and mitigating the worst, has come into its own. Lo and behold - suddenly, partnerships are fashionable!...collaboration across sectors is absolutely central to securing peace, tackling diseases, promoting disaster-recovery and developing the social and business enterprise skills necessary for combatting poverty." HRH, the Prince of Wales in his address to The Partnering Event, 2006