We work with partners to take them through a carefully facilitated process of partnership development that helps them to maximise their collaborative advantage (delivering more than the sum of their parts) and put in place the essential building blocks of effective collaboration. As well as supporting the partnership negotiations, we help each individual partner along their own internal journey to get them to a point where they are confident to sign a partnership agreement.
The full process can involved: stakeholder mapping and potential partner identification; collaborative relationship building and developing partnering skills to speed up the process; facilitating a series of meetings of the partners to build consensus and alignment and develop the specifics of the partnership, with progress made through further developing the ideas and documenting progress between the meetings; developing a partnering agreement; designing an initial governance and operational structure; creating documentation for the partnership.
Examples of previous programmes
GAIN / Harvest+ Biofortification partnership
Over a period of a year, TPI helped to build a new global partnership between GAIN and Harvest+ on biofortification of staple crops. TPI facilitated a series of global meetings designed to build capacity in effective collaboration, draw out organisational interests and resources, build a common vision where those interests aligned, develop a strategy and plan, while simultaneously building the relationship between the organisations. TPI also worked with both partners to develop a governance and operational structure, a partnership manual, and undertook a partnership health check.
WWF
TPI facilitated a one day workshop between WWF and their private sector partner Sodexo. The organisations were in the early stages of a partnership around Water, Women and Community Development and the aim of the workshop was to create a foundation to launch the partnership, agree on shared objectives and build working relationships.
African Flu Alliance (AFA)
TPI facilitated two sessions at the inaugural meeting of the African Flu Alliance, a forum for a dialogue between health authorities, health partners and international agencies to facilitate the implementation of influenza preparedness & response in the African continent. The first session built understanding and capacity in how to collaborate effectively and make the alliance work as a mechanism for addressing the influenza challenge in Africa. The second session was a facilitated workshop to help develop, and get buy-in to a set of recommendations for the structuring and governance of the newly set up initiative, building upon draft recommendations prepared by TPI with the African Flu Alliance HQ at World Health Organisation.
UNESCO
TPI conducted a stakeholder consultation process leading to the development of a multi-stakeholder partnering internet platform for the cultural industries, and a ‘good partnering’ recognition scheme (2008-2009).