Transformative partnerships for a better world: Practices, capacities, and opportunities

Abstract Transformations toward sustainable, regenerative, and just futures require fundamental changes that can only be achieved by working in partnership. Partnerships across diverse disciplines and perspectives also have the potential to normalize and act on a vision of earth stewardship. In 2023, scholars and practitioners working on transformations gathered at the biennial Transformations Conference to explore how to build, maintain and learn from transformative partnerships for a better world. This article offers a synthesis based on a collective sensemaking of the conference. Drawing on the conference presentations, discussion forums, session outputs and organizer reflections, it takes an appreciative approach to identify capacities and practices that support transformative partnerships and proposes an agenda for further research. The article frames transformative partnerships as processes with six stages: preparing/entering; connecting/relating; cohering/integrating; amplifying/transforming; learning/adapting; and releasing/renewing. These stages are loosely sequential in that each is more prominent at a particular time but progression through them may not be linear. For each stage, multiple supporting practices or capacities are identified, drawing on conference contributions. The article then discusses five priorities for further research, including how to: effectively develop the inner capacities needed for partnership; decolonize partnerships; make partnerships “safe enough” spaces that allow for agonism, action and political struggle; evaluate partnerships; and move from partnerships to building transformation systems.