MOPAN-GAN Track
Global Action Networks: Sharing Lessons, Addressing Challenges
What: An event to advance the skills and knowledge of participants with respect to global,
multi-stakeholder networks -- Global Action Networks (GANs)1.
Who: People working in/with GANs.
How: People working in and with GANs have identified “offers” and “requests”. People
with specific knowledge have made offers; others with specific request for advice on a
particular issue have made requests. The meeting format will emphasize group discussion
interspersed with presentations.
Help design the event by reading the offers and requests, and indicating your
preferences on the accompanying form and returning it by March 19 to
swaddell@networkingaction.net .
When: July 2-4, 2012
Where: Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Logistics: This meeting is being organized in conjunction with the 9th Annual Conference
on Multi-Organisational Partnerships, Alliances and Networks (MOPAN). Organizing the
event in conjunction with MOPAN facilitates building connections between academics and
practitioners and leveraging academic resources and attention to address issues critical to
GANs’ development. As well,
Cost: The registration fee will be around € 300. Organizing the meeting with MOPAN
facilitates addressing logistic details and provision of facilities, accommodation and food at
reasonable costs.
Organizers:
Steve Waddell – Principal, NetworkingAction
Responding to the 21st century’s enormous global challenges and realizing its
unsurpassed opportunities requires new ways of acting and organizing. For the past 30
years Steve has been supporting this organizational, network, and societal change and
development, through consultation, education, research, and personal leadership. For
the last 10 years he has focused largely on Global Action Networks, including the Global
Water Partnership, Transparency International, the Global Reporting Initiative, the
International Land Coalition, the Forest Stewardship Council, and the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He is author of numerous publications including
the book Global Action Networks: Creating our future together (2011). Steve sees GANs
as critical to creating a harmonious and flourishing global future.
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Global Action Networks (GANs) is a new type of global, multi-stakeholder change network that
combines seven characteristics: global, inter-organizational network, volunteer leadership, systemic
change developer, diversity-embracing, action learning based, and public goods producer.
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MOPAN-GAN Track
Pieter Glasbergen - Honorary Professor, Maastricht University (International Centre for
Integrated assessment and Sustainable development ICIS); and Emeritus Professor of
Environmental Studies, Policy and Management, Utrecht University and the Dutch Open
Universiteit; Chair, the Utrecht-Nijmegen Programme on Partnerships.
Pieter’s main expertise is in governance, planning and policy issues related to
sustainable development. He has participated in previous CoP meetings. Significant
publications include co-editor of the book Partnerships, Governance, and Sustainable
Development: Reflections on Theory and Practice (2007). Among his recent publications
are: Global action networks: Agents for collective action (2010); Understanding
partnerships for sustainable development analytically; and The Ladder of Partnership
Activity as a methodological tool.
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MOPAN-GAN Track
Offers and Requests
The Global Water Partnership (GWP): GWP’s
vision is for a water secure world. Its mission is
to support the sustainable development and
management of water resources at all levels.
John Metzger of the GWP is offering to share its work in two areas:
1. Monitoring and reporting results in a global policy-based network: GWP adopted
an Outcome Mapping approach to planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting in its
2008-2013 strategy period. The experience has received mixed reviews notably in
GWP’s recent mid-term strategy review. There have been benefits in the reporting of
outcomes and impacts as compared with a previous focus on activities. On the other
hand, there have been immense challenges in introducing new language and systems
throughout a large and changing network and donor community that is much more
familiar and experienced with traditional approaches to results-based
management. The result for GWP so far is a still-evolving programme management
cycle which will likely be a hybrid RBM/OM framework.
2. Creating programme coherence in a global action network: GWP has successful
experiences in developing a global 5 year strategy, and then applying this as the basis
for annual workplanning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting. This is no small
challenge with 2500 partner organisations, organised under 80 country and 13 regional
partnerships.
John Metzger of GWP is requesting others to share how to advance this area:
3. Energising the network… more clearly defining and selling the mutual benefits of
partnership: This is the key issue for the GWP as we continue to evolve to maintain
and increase our relevance to existing and potential new partners, and also with our
donors. The network has been identified in the recent mid-term strategy review as a
key asset and a unique business model in the water sector. But I think we’re missing a
few key pieces of the puzzle in the way we organise and manage ourselves that could
enable us to be more functional and effective in delivering results.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): To
reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address
into your computer - a name or a number. ICANN coordinates these
unique identifiers across the world.
Elad Levinson of ICANN is offering to share:
4. Building Consensus in an organization for the purpose of
workplace Democracy and Change Management: ICANN is
working to solve thorny, seemingly intractable problems of growth and
organizational evolution by engaging all staff in the problem solving and decision
–making process. They offer to share aspects of applying the Multi-stakeholder
Model to Organizational Change, highlighting such issues as the role of formal
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MOPAN-GAN Track
authority, delegation, teams, transference of process facilitation/collaboration
skills, and aligning incentives to goals.
Pieter Glasbergen of Maastricht, Utrecht and Dutch Open Universities is offering to share
his work on:
5. Legitimacy problems and the mechanisms to handle them: GANs must be accepted
and recognized by governments, businesses and civil society organizations as having a
valid role in addressing their issues. How can they develop this acceptance and, in effect,
support for their role? Six mechanisms are presented and analyzed, with illustrative
examples.
Steve Waddell of NetworkingAction is offering to share his work on:
6. A new approach to assessing effectiveness: Assessing the
effectiveness of networks is a notoriously under-developed field. In
2010-11 recently took my hand at it with the co-leadership of Horacio
Trujillo and iScale. We applied our thinking to the International Land
Coalition. Tools used included web crawl mapping, and GAN assessment
frameworks, summarized with a “stop-light” assessment.
The Kimberley Process (KP) is a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to
stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance
wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of
devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo and Sierra Leone.
Franziska Bieri is offering to share her KP work on:
7. The role of trust in networks using the examples of the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme and the Diamond Development Initiative
International. Mutual trust amongst government, business and civil
society actors is key in the emergence and the effectiveness of a GAN
in any given issue area. We explore the role and mechanisms of trust
in multi-stakeholder initiatives. The case study evidence suggests that
organizational structures which during GAN formation stages can help produce mutual
trust and commitment of dissimilar actors with diverse interests, can lead to mistrust
amongst network partners, withdrawal from the network, and a decline in the
legitimacy of the GAN during its more mature implementation phase.
The Global Network for Disaster Reduction (GNDR) is a Global Network of Civil Society
Organisations committed to working together to improve disaster risk reduction policy and
practice at every decision-making level. Our strength lies in the commitment, diversity of
skills and experience and extensive reach of our membership, particularly at the local level
across virtually every region of the world.
Terry Gibson of GNDR is offering to share work:
8. Shared actions as a component of network building: During
the four years that GNDR has been active it has found that its
programme of shared actions, under the title 'Views from the
Frontline' have led to rapid network mobilisation and growth as
well as learning at local and global level. Reflection by the
network during formal learning reviews and research by Terry
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Terry has formalised the role of shared actions as a component of network building. We
offer to share our experiences and suggestions for applying these in other networks.
Terry Gibson of GNDR is requesting others to share work:
9. Restructuring Networks: The rapid growth of our network leads to growing pains,
and we have been pursuing a network-wide consultation on governance and structure.
Whilst much work has been done within the network we would value learning about
approaches adopted by other, comparable networks. We request insights and case
studies on the dynamic restructuring of networks to maintain cohesiveness and ensure
effective governance.
SUSTAIN Global Partnership stands for “Supply Strategies: Aid.
Innovation. Network.”—summarizing its core principles and competencies. SUSTAIN GP is an
organization dedicated to providing a supply-chain platform that will serve
the aid/development community by aggregating procurement and logistic
functions. By using standardized supply chain practices, systems, and
technology, SUSTAIN GP provides access to a network that greatly increases
efficiency, reduces costs, and enhances system reporting.
Brad Henderson, of Sustain GP with World Vision is requesting
others to share work:
10. Developing value for all partnership stakeholders: Feedback
from experiences that have developed value for all partnership stakeholders (outside of
partners) and how they overcame resistance to change, especially in failed states or
different cultural contexts. This request comes from World Vision's search for a quicker,
less expensive and more accountable supply chain grew into a global partnership:
Supply Strategies: Aid. Innovation. Network or SUSTAIN GP. Forty to sixty percent of
NGOs’ budgets are spent in their supply chains, which often suffer from management
and logistical gaps.
The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a global civil
society-led network which seeks a new international consensus on moving from reaction to
prevention of violent conflict. GPPAC works to strengthen civil society networks for peace
and security, and to link local, national, regional, and global levels of action.
Charlotte Crockett of GPPAC is offering to share:
11. Engaging Government: GPPAC has made good strides in developing
their lobbying strategy. They have shifted from focusing on support
of individual members who are lobbying, to create a network of
people well-positioned with certain organizations such as the UN, to
ensure GPPAC’s voice is being heard and GPPAC is part of meetings
and discussions. As well, they have created a regional strategy with
their members to influence inter-governmental organizations.
Charlotte is requesting others that people share their knowledge on:
12. Network strengthening strategies: how to engage more organizations more actively,
and make the large list of names on paper really involved. What can we offer, given the
financial limitations. And what might a member draw from the wider membership.
What does the strategy look like?
Paul Kosterink at GPPAC is making the request:
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13. Processing Large PM&E Data-Bases: In project measurement and evaluation, how do
you process and categorize vast amounts of information coming in in the form of
reports from various network members around the world? Are there specific systems or
software that you use to manage the information?
Emeil Wubben of the Management Studies Group, Wageningen University is making the
following offer to share his findings about Metropolitan Food Clusters:
14. Governance for an integrated, sustainable food system: Realizing sustainable,
integrated food system solutions is not only a technical problem, but especially a
governance problem. ‘Eighty percent of the necessary production increases would come
from increases in yields and cropping intensity, but good governance can be a major
obstacle’ (FAO, 2008). The realisation of Metropolitan Food Clusters (MFC) may be the
system innovation that meets many of the challenges. The MFC aim to shift from
vertically and spatially specialized agrifood
industries, towards multiple vertically and
horizontally integrated, spatially (semi)clustered value chains. What are multistakeholder consortia that may promote the emergence of highly productive sustainable
MFC around the world? The presentation will go beyond the technological focus of
many initiatives to review the relevant global networks and relationships that
enable or hinder the realization of MFC.
Luli Pesqueira & Pieter Glasbergen of the Utrecht-Nijmegen
Programme on Partnerships (UNPOP), Utrecht University offer to
present:
15. An appraisal of Oxfam’s multi-stakeholder initiatives
portfolio. Their paper looks into five multi-stakeholder
initiatives (MSI) in which Oxfam has participated and evaluates
their potential for enforcing human rights, in order to answer the following question: To
what extent can NGOs regard multi-stakeholder initiatives as effective vehicles for the
enforcement of a rights-based approach to development?
IFOK is a leader for communication and strategy consulting on the subject of participation.
It works for customers in the public sector, business, and civil
society. Our approach: Shaping change through participation
and dialogue. As a consultant and partner, we support clients with expertise and
methodology knowledge – from strategy through to implementation.
Christoph Hinske of IFOK is offering to share his thoughts about:
16. A competency learning strategy for networks: Getting ready for a global network
society. Christoph focuses on the way of learning and developing competencies
necessary for Global Action Networks’ success. He does this by developing IFOK as a
case study on how a “way of learning” those competences might look like at individual
and organizational level and how a deliberate learning process supports the ability of a
company to grow into GAN structures.
Christoph is requesting others to share their knowledge on:
17. The invisible but obvious; those “little things in daily work” that we do as an
individual to leverage interdependent thinking and acting skills. I am searching those
“little things” that we normally do not pay attention to because “we just do them” but if
reflecting on them one thinks “That was actually pretty cool and I really moved myself/
my co-worker/ my organization towards a higher degree of interdependent thinking
and acting”.
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