A guide to effective collaboration and learning in consortia
Working in the complex context of climate change adaptation and resilience, individuals and organisations are often required to work together in consortia across disciplinary, institutional, geographical, and cultural boundaries. Working in large consortia offers great opportunities for addressing complex problems. It enables those with a wide variety of technical skills and other capacities to come together and devise more integrated responses. However, diversity of backgrounds and approaches to issues means that joint identification of challenges and solutions can be complex. Without explicit attention to roles, responsibilities, and relations, a variety of obstacles may undermine or obstruct effective collaboration and achievement of intended goals.
This guide shares some examples and lessons learnt from a range of consortia operating across different programmes. This document provides some pointers for researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to work and learn together in complex consortia, which should lead to a smoother process of arriving at more effective adaptation and increased resilience for the most vulnerable.
While the expressed lessons have been drawn from programmes concerned with building resilience and adaptation to climate change, many of the lessons learned about working in consortia will be relevant to a much wider set of contexts.
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