Working in partnership with others can be a desirable and effective approach for improving third sector services and service delivery, eliminating duplication and moving toward more shared services.  However, current structures and organisational systems for boards and chief officers do not prioritise collaboration and can create conflicts between motivations to collaborate and the monitoring, evaluation and accountability of independent organisations.

Workshop Structure

The half-day workshop is designed to explore the issues related to this topic by making connections between recent relevant research and participants’ own experiences of partnership working and collaboration.  Participants will be given a discussion paper to read before the workshop and be asked to offer their insights through small and full group discussions.

Benefits

The outputs and benefits of the workshop will be:

a)      Discussions stimulated by participant experience and recent research to identify issues and strategies for problems of practice;

b)      Draft proposals for organisations and regulators about how to approach the dilemmas and address the issues; and

c)       Generally greater awareness of the topics and their significance for the voluntary and community sectors in Scotland and the UK.

This workshop is intended to establish a framework for understanding the fundamental issues of partnerships and collaboration and approaches to dealing with them.  Participants will have an opportunity to share their experiences of challenges and good practices developed through their work in the Scottish third sector, and identify where more information and guidance are needed to address the issues and improve practice. 

Who is the Workshop For?

The workshop will be open to 20 chief officers and trustees of third sector organisations as well as key stakeholders.

Workshop Outline and Agenda

The workshop will run from 13:00 - 16:30 on 21 October and the agenda for the event is as follows:

                                13:00 - 13:15    Introductions and Workshop Objectives

                                13:15 - 14:00    Discussions about Background Materials

                                14:00 - 14:45    Highlighting the Issues from Experience

                                14:45 - 15:00    Break

                                15:00 - 16:00    Gaps in Understanding and Future Challenges

                                16:00 - 16:30    Support Needed

Costs and Registration

Attendance at this workshop is free of charge, but places are limited.  The advance reading materials will be distributed one week prior to the event.  All attendees are asked to prepare in advance of the workshop so they will be able to fully participate and gain full benefit from the discussion.