Creating Partnering Space: Exploring the right fit for sustainable development partnerships

In the policy discourse on sustainable development, the positive role of cross-sector partnerships is increasingly stressed. Governments habitually frame their partnership approach in terms of „PPPs‟ - Public-Private Partnerships. But it is not very clear whether these initiatives actually are a combination of „public‟ and „private‟, whether these initiatives actually represent a partnership and whether they provide solutions for what type of problems. The existing conceptual ambiguity which - combined with sometimes overly ideological expectations of partnerships - also triggers considerable criticism on the actual role of partnerships in sustainable development. Part of the criticism originates in an understanding of the necessary conditions for sustainable development – more in specific the institutional embedding of partnerships in roles and power bases. Part of the problem originates in the circumstance that partnership research has focused primarily on the dynamics of bilateral relationships, whilst for sustainable development often trilateral relationships between firms, civil society and governments are required. This additional dimension is conceptually difficult to address. Unresolved fundamental questions thereby exist around the correct interpretation of role configurations that are created by cross sector partnerships, including the extent to which individual actors can be considered legitimate participants in a partnership and its impact on sustainable development.
This paper argues that this discourse can be redressed to four questions:
(1) what defines the „space‟ in which partnerships develop to address sustainable development issues and
(2) what kind or relevant roles do parties bring into the partnership and
(3) what does this imply for the organizational fit of the parties in partnering space and
(4) how does the various degrees of fit contribute to sustainable development. Is there an „optimal fit‟?
This paper develops a taxonomy that should help in classifying roles, the resulting relationships and the degree of organizational fit needed to make the partnership meaningful for sustainable development. This exercise should also help to link the meso-level of partnerships to the macro-level (impact) of sustainable development.