Global Map

Leverage key partner competencies to ensure a successful project outcome (Lesson learned)

Partnerships that span multiple actors and sectors will necessarily span a variety of organizational competencies. As the partnership determines its goals and structure, assess both the skills needed to achieve those goals and the skills of the existing partners. Ensure … Learn More

Motivate private sector engagement by clarifying the business case for your project (Lesson learned)

When approaching private sector audiences with a new potential partnership, frame key project outcomes in terms of the business case. For water stewardship projects, be sure to alert potential partners to the cost effectiveness or return on investment for implementing … Learn More

Recruit private-sector partners by engaging with clusters of companies (Lesson learned)

Where possible, work with existing industry associations groups to engage a greater number of partners while benefiting from existing trust, relationships, and networks. Industry groups may include companies who are already highly engaged on water issues. Additionally, gaining the trust … Learn More

Strengthen a partnership by starting small (Lesson learned)

As natural resources challenges affect every facet of life, the most effective solutions are often large-scale and structural: national policies, watershed management programs, industry-wide commitments. However, a fledgling partnership must begin with a manageable goal to gain confidence, concrete results … Learn More

To advocate for policy change, begin by implementing existing policies (Lesson learned)

In some contexts, natural resources-related policies exist but are not implemented. When advocating for water policy reform, an important first step is to support implementation of any existing policies. Engage private sector actors to identify why policies or incentives are … Learn More

Use an analytical approach to match partners according to their interests (Lesson learned)

In some partnerships, a core partner may serve as a connector who matches interested parties to collaborate on different projects, such as by identifying alignment between companies’ natural resources-related goals and environmental projects managed by NGOs and municipalities. In this … Learn More

Use an “innovations lab” to generate pilot projects (Lesson learned)

As a new partnership works to identify its goals, consider uniting specialist knowledge with corporate support to create an “innovations lab” that can generate proposals for pilot projects. The “innovations lab” concept is a way to generate pilot proposals that … Learn More

Use existing umbrella organizations to engage the private sector (Lesson learned)

Sometimes emerging partnerships struggle to engage the private sector. One strategy for private sector outreach is to work with an existing business association, coalition, commitment platform, or other umbrella organizations. These organizations are well situated to identify key business partners, … Learn More

When collaborating with large multinational organizations, leverage local knowledge as a key value add of participation in collective action (Lesson learned)

Whether your partnership engages multinational corporations, large NGOs, development agencies, or other global entities, engaging local partners and framing local knowledge is a key value add of project participation. Multinational entities may be highly motivated to engage on natural resources … Learn More

Official SDG monitoring processes can be used to create opportunities for tangible actions that accelerate measurable progress on water resources management (Lesson learned)

Water-related Action Plans should be based on SDG 6 monitoring and designed with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, to serve as a collective roadmap for different sectors to contribute to achieving the SDGs. Equitable and inclusive water resources management … Learn More