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Cross-sector partnership
To empower and decide
Long term
Top-down
Collaboration
Medium - big group
About

Cross-sector partnerships bring together diverse actors—governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, and academic institutions—to collectively address complex urban and environmental challenges. These alliances are built on shared goals, mutual trust, respect, and shared responsibility. They foster the exchange of knowledge, resources, and capacities.

Sustained cooperation allows for more comprehensive and systemic responses to deeply interconnected issues such as climate change, urban inequality, and gender gaps. By adopting flexible, long-term governance models, cross-sector partnerships promote innovation, enhance policy coherence, and support fairer, more inclusive urban transformation.

Benefits

  • They foster multi-level, cross-sector collaboration to challenge entrenched power structures and promote equity. By connecting actors across government levels and sectors, these partnerships create shared spaces for action that can address inequality and enable more just and inclusive solutions.

  • They support integrated climate action and gender-sensitive policies grounded in intersectional justice. These partnerships embrace approaches that recognise how gender, class, territory, and other inequalities intersect. This ensures that climate responses are equitable, effective, and centred on the most vulnerable populations.

Importance

  • It supports the co-creation of solutions by integrating diverse knowledge, perspectives, and capacities.

Cross-sector partnerships enable joint responses to urban challenges. They validate technical, community-based, and experiential knowledge and strengthen decision-making through collaboration.

  • It builds trust, transparency, and legitimacy in urban planning and environmental decision-making.

Active participation by a range of actors leads to more open, accountable processes. Decisions become more socially responsive and gain legitimacy through dialogue and collective input.

  • It enhances local governance by embedding accountability and shared ownership.

These partnerships promote more democratic and community-rooted governance. Communities move beyond consultation and take ownership of processes and outcomes, increasing sustainability and long-term impact.

Steps

  1. Analyse the programme’s goals and assess whether a cross-sector alliance is the proper mechanism.

  2. Engage the right people and ensure diverse, legitimate, and functional representation.

  3. Build a shared understanding and common purpose.

  4. Formally launch the partnership with a cohesive and committed group.

  5. Ensure operational viability and the long-term sustainability of collaboration.

  6. Create a clear organisational structure to support participation and decision-making.

  7. Learn from the process and continuously improve the partnership’s impact.

Key Aspects

  • Ensure long-term engagement and set up regular feedback mechanisms.

Cross-sector collaboration needs sustained commitment beyond isolated actions. To build trust and align diverse interests, it’s essential to establish regular feedback cycles and timely processes that strengthen long-term relationships.

  • Provide suitable materials and shared tools for coordination.

Use stakeholder maps, facilitation guidelines, memorandums of understanding, joint work plans, and collaborative communication platforms to help structure joint work and track progress.

  • Acknowledge and address challenges related to power imbalances and sustained engagement.

The main obstacles include asymmetries among actors, misaligned agendas, limited resources, and difficulties maintaining engagement. Overcoming them requires a focus on equity, skilled facilitation, and ongoing negotiation.

  • Co-design joint strategies and monitor progress through participatory methods.

It’s essential to map stakeholders, define problems collectively, agree on solutions, allocate resources fairly, and track progress using shared indicators. Documenting lessons learned, strengthening institutional ties, and exploring replication options helps scale and sustain results.

Outcomes

  • Establish lasting collaboration frameworks rooted in shared principles and equitable governance.

Cross-sector partnerships need clear, sustainable structures based on mutual trust, shared decision-making, and fair power distribution. These foundations support long-term, resilient relationships.

  • Support co-created interventions with stronger legitimacy, relevance, and impact.

When diverse actors are involved in designing solutions, the results are better adapted to local contexts and enjoy broader social acceptance and transformative impact.

  • Strengthen local ecosystems of care, innovation, and collective climate resilience.

Collaborative work fosters territorial dynamics that combine technical knowledge with community wisdom. This promotes creative solutions, mutual support networks, and stronger capacities for climate adaptation.

  • Inform policy recommendations and pilot projects through a feminist, cross-sector lens.

Participatory processes generate action proposals that reflect a range of voices and priorities. This alignment between public policy and pilot initiatives advances gender, social, and environmental justice.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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