Written by Marie Beresford-Dey, PhD

In an era of calls for urgent climate and biodiversity action, we are challenged to respond to what are now well-recognised global phenomena that are negatively impacting our world. As a society, we must focus on anthropogenic harm and deepen our understanding of methods to redress these issues without creating further damage. The title of this blog highlights the need for collaboration; of course, I could have added several more ‘C-words’ – creativity, connection, consultation, cultivation… the possibilities are endless. Maybe not quite endless, but you know what I mean. So why focus on collaboration? Well, not only is it a term that is central to SEPAL, but it is also central for pulling together like-minded yet diverse individuals to create, curate, and communicate (yes, I know, more C words!) knowledge and driving action concerning the environmental dilemmas that we face.  Ultimately, practices where we work in partnership to achieve shared success are important for a more sustainable future (Koontz, 2006; Hamid, 2019; Larsson and Larrson, 2020; Mariani et al, 2022), including research environments.

Researchers have increasingly sought to collaborate with others as a strategy to exploit the opportunity to address environmental-related issues. Yet, when searching the terms ‘Sustainable Environments’ (from 2020 onwards) in Google Scholar, I reach page 25 before I locate a text title with any association with collaborative features – Wondirad, Tolkach, and King (2020) title their work ‘Stakeholder collaboration as a major factor for sustainable ecotourism development in developing countries’. Whilst reaching page 25 does not necessarily mean that other studies lack attention to this concept, it does seem striking that it’s not featured strongly enough to warrant a place in the title. One could also question the analytics of Google and the positioning of these papers, as it’s only when you introduce the term into the search bar that you begin to see some of the work that has taken place in this regard. For example:

  • Through a Swedish single case study focusing on sustainable project management, Larsson and Larsson (2020) highlighted the diverse impacts of collaboration, including organisational effectiveness, innovation, and learning. The positive outcomes result from joint planning and problem-solving, efficient resource usage, and joint decision-making based on shared knowledge.
  • Mishra et al. (2021) investigated the facilitation of circular economies in a developing North African country. The authors concluded that multi-stakeholder collaborations through shared understandings and enhancing resource efficiencies were crucial in administering circular economy initiatives.
  • Mariani et al. (2022) explored innovations for sustainability (with a focus on energy and food consumption) across four European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy). They indicated that work towards SDG fulfilment extended beyond the original intent because of collaborative working.

These findings align with some of the benefits identified by the Academy of Sustainable Innovation (2022) for environmental sustainability, including:

  • Increased capacity and access to resources
  • Accelerated development of solutions
  • Shared access to data and research
  • Advanced technological innovations
  • Greater efficiencies
  • Increased resiliency
  • Shared risk
  • Meaningful discussions

Of course, we should not forget the challenges surrounding collaboration, for example, each partner’s ‘different needs, missions, and mandates’ alongside ‘power-sharing’ and ‘consensus building’ (Margerum and Robinson, 2015, p. 53). Further, Gaskell (2015) highlights three ‘big reasons’ that can challenge this way of working: i) the need for high emotional intelligence and self-awareness levels. ii) Letting go of control and acting with a ‘degree of ego-less-ness’. iii) Making time to get to know collaborators’ experiences, expertise, and strengths. There will be many more challenges, some smaller than others, but by setting out expectations, maintaining open communication, and valuing each stakeholder’s contribution, amongst other things, we can overcome these and take advantage of working together to bring about increased knowledge and environmental change (and yes, I finish the blog with a further C word!).

References

Gaskell, C. (2015) Why Collaboration is Difficult and How to Make it Easier. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-collaboration-difficult-how-make-easier-carole-gaskell/ Accessed: 20 April 2023.
Hamid, N. H. A. (2019) Styles of Collaboration Between Entities Within Different Sectors of Communities When Working on Sustainability-Related Projects. PhD Thesis. University of East London. 
Koontz, T. M. (2006) Collaboration for sustainability? A framework for analyzing government impacts in collaborative-environmental management, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 2:1, 15-24. 
Larsson, Johan, and Lisa Larsson. 2020. “Integration, Application and Importance of Collaboration in Sustainable Project Management” Sustainability 12, no. 2: 585. 
Margerum, R.D. and Robinson, C.J. (2015) ‘Collaborative partnerships and the challenges for sustainable water management’, Current opinion in environmental sustainability, 12, pp. 53–58. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2014.09.003.
Mariani, L., Trivellato, B., Martini, M. et al. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Through Collaborative Innovation: Evidence from Four European Initiatives. J Bus Ethics 180, 1075–1095 (2022). 
Mishra, J. L., Chiwenga, K. D., & Ali, K. (2021). Collaboration as an enabler for circular economy: A case study of a developing country. Management Decision, 59(8), 1784-1800.
Wondirad, A., Tolkach, D., & King, B. (2020). Stakeholder collaboration as a major factor for sustainable ecotourism development in developing countries. Tourism Management, 78, 104024.