Public and Third sector collaboration - can it really work? Working together for Wales' Well-being

The poster illustrates the main themes of a planned case study of inter-sector collaboration.

Context:
The project takes advantage of the implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act in spring 2016, to benefit from this strategic opportunity to develop new cross-sector partnerships.
Ecosystem services underpin all Wales’ national well-being goals (1,2) and inter-sector collaboration is recognised as essential to reverse the degradation of ecosystems while still meeting demands for their services in a sustainable way. However the risk of sub-optimal outcomes from collaboration is high, particularly for new organisations and new forms of collaboration.

Objectives:
(i) develop understanding of the impact on well-being of a Wildlife Trust’s activities to enhance ecosystems;
(ii) develop cross-sector collaboration to maximise this well-being impact.

Methods:
The case study adopts a reflexive grounded theory approach to explicitly relate concepts developed to the evidence and aid analysis of the effects of social processes on observed interactions (3).
Qualitative evidence from observations and group interviews to develop typologies of activities according to their delivery of cultural ecosystem services and impacts on aspects of subjective well-being.
An Action Research approach to develop collaborative working practices between the Trust and a regional board of public bodies, through developing a shared vision, and actively managing trust and communication amongst the organisations to maximise the outcomes of collaboration (4).
Quantitative indicators of national well-being disaggregated to the regional level to examine the decision-making context, allowing the findings to be used to test other contexts.