Progress through Process – Section 4
Making Collaboration Work: The Elements of Successful Collaborative Governance for Sustainable Development
Our discussions identified the elements of successful collaboration. Here, we draw on the preceding discussion to set out a framework for successful collaborative governance for sustainable development. These eight elements described below combine to build legitimacy from the outset and ensure the success of the collaboration.
Focus on clear outcomes
Collaborative processes must be focused on clear, measurable outcomes. Collaboration for collaboration’s sake leads nowhere. Citizens will commit to a process that is expected to yield clear, real results.
Find the right convenor
Collaborative processes need a convenor that is credible, neutral, and trustworthy. The convenor must be able to bring the right players to the table and establish a process that will enable progress. Governments are often best placed to convene, but not always; sometimes others are better positioned to convene collaborative processes.
Bring the right people together
Collaborative processes must have the right players at the table. The process does not have to include every possible relevant stakeholder, but the process will not generate solutions that are successful in the long term if it excludes key interests.
Ensure real commitment
Every participant must commit fully to the collaborative process. This means a commitment from all participants to see the process through, to act on the results, and to find solutions together through the collaborative process.
Create clear rules and scope
Collaboration depends on clearly defined and agreed upon goals, rules, and scope. Success requires clarity on the goals; it requires clarity on timelines, so that discussions are not open-ended; it requires clarity on roles and responsibilities, so that participants understand what is expected of them; and it requires clarity on the rules of the process, so that participants can police each others’ actions and avoid conflict.
Foster shared ownership and accountability
Collaborative processes must develop a shared ownership and accountability for the process and the resulting policy solutions. Collaboration means that the participants are taking responsibility as a group for solving their problems together.
Build legitimacy
Collaborative initiatives must be—and must be seen as being—legitimate processes. Success depends on developing two forms of legitimacy. Internal legitimacy derives from having the right participants and good processes with clear, transparent, and fair rules. External legitimacy is gained through some level of recognition and backing from established democratic institutions.
Establish ongoing dialogue
Collaborative processes should establish ongoing dialogue and engagement. Ongoing processes create trust and build on past success. They enable evaluation and continuous learning from the successes and shortcomings of the past.
© 2013