Cross-Sector partnerships are the collaborative engagement of business, government, civil-society organizations in projects formed to address a societal and/or environmental challenges; in there, governance and implementation tasks are shared.
Partnerships that bridge different sectors (public, private, and nonprofit) are flourishing around the world. Because, to tackle societal issues, it is required to have resources, innovation approaches and stakeholders’ involvement; and cross- sector partnerships between public, business, and/or civil- society actors may fulfill these requirements.
Therefore, through cross-sector partnerships it is possible to deliver improved and innovative solutions for economic, social, and environmental problems via the combination of the capacities and resources of organizational actors across different sectors. These efforts can be accelerated by leveraging cutting-edge research and innovation alongside community trust to develop unique understandings of barriers.
How can cross-sector partnerships increase a positive societal impact?
To fulfill the maximum societal impact potential of cross-sector partnerships, active interaction and involvement in planning and implementation of activities between all organizations is critical. CSPs are not like multi-stakeholder initiatives, in which organizations from different sectors are individually responsible for implementing the ensuing activities in their organization or supply chain; or like collaborative governance where one or more public agencies engage non-state stakeholders in a consultation process, yet the decisions and implementation remain under the leadership of the public agencies.
CSPs are thriving around large companies, public bodies and international organizations due to their impact potential. One hundred largest firms in the world were on average involved in about eighteen cross-sector partnerships with ‘non-market ‘actor. Also, since the early 2000s, international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank have embraced public–private partnerships as a means of providing global public goods like environmental protection or poverty alleviation.
This awareness of the impact of cross-sector partnerships comes with the realization that organizations need to come together. Companies, local governments and civil society need to creatively partner to build resilient and equitable communities. To create transformation, we need partners: each sector has special relationships, responsibilities, and reach across communities.
This relates to the idea that CSPs emphasize an imperative to realize benefits for the wider community rather than for individual interests.
To scale the impact and societal benefits, it’s important to remember that collaboration with communities must take part in the partnerships. It’s key to ensure the voices and perspectives of people at all levels of the community. Communities are partners and partnerships are not their saviors. That’s the most impactful form of engagement; by listening to and working with impacted individuals and co-creating together.
