title: Transnational multistakeholder partnerships for sustainable development: Conditions for success.
abstract: This perspective discusses nine conditions for enhancing the performance of multistakeholder partnerships for sustainable development. Such partnerships have become mainstream implementation mechanisms for attaining international sustainable development goals and are also frequently used in other adjacent policy domains such as climate change, health and biodiversity. While multistakeholder arrangements are widely perceived as a positive contribution to addressing global change, few studies have systematically evaluated the existing evidence for their positive performance. This poses an urgent and important challenge for researchers and practitioners to understand and improve the effectiveness of partnerships, in particular since their popularity increases despite their past track record. The recommendations presented are based on own research, a literature survey and discussions with a large number or international Civil Society Organizations at two occasions during 2014. This article proceeds as follows: first, we define multistakeholder partnerships, outline their rational and summarize available assessments on partnership success; second, we provide a set of concrete recommendations based on lessons-learned from over 10 years of scholarship; and third, we conclude with some reflections on the future of multistakeholder governance for sustainability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. philipp.pattberg@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pattberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. oscar.widerberg@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Widerberg
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D007391:International Cooperation
keywords: Climate change; Global governance; Multistakeholder partnerships; Sustainable development; Sustainable development goals