How to partner with the EDP
Traditionally, a collaborative intermediary organisation in economic development bridges diverse stakeholders—government, private sector, and civil society—to tackle complex challenges beyond conventional approaches. Reach out to the EDP team for support in running an effective collaborative process.
Establishing a partnership
A strong partnership supports each partner in fulfilling their own mandates collaboratively, avoiding the pitfall of substituting one partner’s role. It’s essential to focus on building partner capacity while clearly defining roles and addressing overlapping mandates from the outset of establishing a partnership. Identifying shared values, even amid differing interests, fosters cohesion. Combining vision and action is crucial: articulate a shared agenda upfront, strategise effectively, and ensure implementation to build trust through action rather than mere dialogue. Design the partnership to test and be agile in responding to evolving needs.
Surfacing your common purpose
Different kinds of partnerships
How does the EDP collaborate?
The EDP collaborates by partnering with government departments, businesses, civil society, and academia to co-create solutions that enhance productivity and drive innovation. We are partly funded by the Western Cape government and work with other donors to build state capabilities and strengthen collaboration across sectors. Our approach moves beyond traditional consultation to foster shared accountability and inclusive decision-making, ensuring seamless delivery of development outcomes in South Africa.
The EDP Partnering Framework
The EDP’s approach to partnering is captured in the EDP Partnering Framework. The framework is based on the partnering experience of the EDP team throughout its history. It originated from a partnership of organisations and government groups in the Western Cape.
As a manual, the EDP Partnering Framework forms the basis of the EDP’s work with clients and partners to introduce the EDP approach to partnering, summarise useful tools for the partnering process, and train others to partner using the EDP approach.
The framework identifies six stages in the partnering process:
- Analysing the system
- Identifying partners and stakeholders
- Engaging the stakeholders
- Enabling partners
- Prioritising interventions
- Reflecting, learning, and adapting
The core principles developed by the EDP underpin each stage of the framework, and include specific tasks and tools to achieve the desired outcomes in each stage of the process.
Reach out to us if you want to run an effective collaborative process.
Partnering in action
The impact of our work is deep and takes time to develop, making it locally-embedded and sustainable. The EDP model for partnering ensures our clients are equipped to take full ownership of their collaborative processes and reach their intended goals, as demonstrated in these case studies of partnering in action.