This document summarizes research into multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) for sustainable development. 18 interviews were conducted with organizations from various sectors to examine how MSPs operate, their opportunities and challenges. MSPs have potential to be effective for sustainable development by enabling collaborative action, information sharing and resource pooling between the public, private and non-profit sectors. However, MSPs face difficulties with different interests and cultures across stakeholders, unbalanced decision-making, and a lack of transparency and evaluation. For MSPs to be more effective, they must recognize differences between stakeholders, ensure transparent selection processes, build trust through communication, and adapt their strategies over time.

1. Preliminary literature review and 18 semi
-structured interviews with International Orga-
nizations (IO), NGOs, private sector, public sec-
tor and academia.
Research Objective
The aim of our research was to examine how the
MSPs are operating. What are the opportuni-
ties, challenges and difficulties that they have
to face and what mechanisms they use?
Methodology
Public Sector
Inclusiveness
Participation
Strong Governance
Transparency
PrivateSector
Civil Society
IO
MULTI-STAKEHOLDER
PARTNERSHIPS:
answer for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
?
Collaborative action to
reach common goals
Exchange of informati-
on, expertise & capacity
Pulling together resour-
ces
Flexible, informal and
decentralized structure
Raising awareness of
public opinion
Connecting local
practices with the global
environmental and de-
velopment norms
Different operational
strategies across actors
Different visions, cultu-
res & interests
Difficult to consolidate
the conflicting enivron-
ments
Unbalanced decision
making processes
Lack of transparency
and legitimacy
Weak monitoring and
evaluation mechanisms
+
Without action, global war-
ming is likely to reach 5°C by
2100.
By 2050 climate change will
cause approximately 250,000
deaths from health problems.
By 2050 climate change will
make 0.5 billion people see
increased water stress.
Supervisors: Professor Christophe Gironde, Dr. Katherine HagenElin Andersson, Simona Hermelyova, Veronica Pedroni
MSPs have a potential to be effective in the post-2015 Development
Agenda, but there is still a long way to go. In order for them to act as
a harmonized choir they need:
The recognition and understanding of differences and interests
across the stakeholders
Strengthening of the initial phase of the partnership: ensuring
democratic and transparent selection processes
Building strong pillars of the partnership based on mutual trust
and communication
Maintaining the enthusiasm and willingness of the stakeholders
throughout the whole process of development of the partnership
Adapting their strategies to the rapidly changing environment