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Centre for International Environmental Studies
27 March 2020

19-20 March 2020: Academic Workshop of the Effectiveness of Partnerships Project

On the 19th and 20th of March, the third academic workshop of the SNIS-funded research project on ‘Effectiveness of Partnerships for Advancing the SDGs: Behavioural Pathways and Impacts’ project was held online, in order to respond to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. 

The project, which started in Fall 2017, is coordinated by Prof. Liliana Andonova and hosted by the Centre for International Environmental Studies (CIES) of the Graduate Institute. Its objective is to bridge the gap between the growing role played by transnational partnerships as mechanisms of sustainability governance and the ongoing lack of sound methodological approaches and empirical studies that evaluate their actual effectiveness across different contexts and sectors. In particular, the project aims to develop a better understanding of the pathways and conditions that are likely to increase the effectiveness of partnerships, with a view to enhancing their contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

The main purpose of the workshop was to bring the research team together, including the University of Geneva’s Public-Private Partnership Centre, the University of Zurich, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Grenoble Ecole de Management, in order to discuss the final versions of the research papers resulting from the project. At the same time, the meeting sought to define the next steps of project implementation, including the publication of an edited volume as the main research output, as well as a series of supporting dissemination activities. 

Overall, the online workshop offered a valuable opportunity to continue project activities despite the recent disruptions that made it impossible to host the event at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. This dynamic collaboration, with participants working together across disciplines and issue areas (ranging from biodiversity to global health) will hopefully provide a timely contribution to the ongoing debate on strategies to increase partnership effectiveness for sustainable development.

For more information on the project, please follow this link