What, in your view, defines effective partnership in the context of sustainable development and climate solutions?

Effective partnerships begin with establishing the needs and why: shared purpose and values, a clear understanding of how a systemic approach and cross-sectoral solutions address what changes are needed, and mutual trust, ensuring all stakeholders are aligned towards the common goals. Whether addressing hunger, renewable energy, or climate adaptation, successful partnerships recognize the interconnectedness of these issues and the value of systemic approaches to create lasting, transformative change.

They leverage the unique strengths of diverse actors, including governments, businesses, academia, and civil society, to address interconnected challenges by identifying and leveraging convening powers of the different partners. Transparent governance, equitable resource sharing, strong relational coordination, and the integration of local knowledge are crucial for ensuring sustainability and scalability. This collaborative foundation ensures that partnerships adapt to changing contexts, delivering results that address the root causes of complex global challenges. 

How do you envision integrating climate solutions and sustainability across policies, industries, and sectors?

Climate solutions as well as Sustainable Development Goals inherently involve wicked problems that demand multi-sectoral approaches and coordinated funding mechanisms. We can no longer operate in silos with separate water, health, or energy projects. For example, integration across sectors is essential. Policies must prioritize cross-cutting solutions that align economic growth with environmental resilience, while industries and governments work together to embed sustainability and sustainable development at every level. This requires decision-makers to adopt systems thinking and systems innovation as they design new programmes. Partnerships that bridge public, private, and community interests are critical for addressing interconnected challenges, such as food security, clean energy, and climate adaptation. By integrating diverse perspectives and leveraging shared resources, we can create holistic solutions that are scalable and sustainable. 

What means of implementation and enabling environment are needed to encourage partnerships involving different stakeholders?

Successful partnerships thrive in a supportive environment with policies that prioritize collaboration and innovation. Such policies must translate into incorporation of collaboration goals in programme designs and contracts. This includes funding mechanisms like blended finance, capacity-building initiatives for stakeholders, and platforms for real-time data sharing. Tools such as USAID’s Five Rs Framework—covering roles, resources, rules, results, and relationships—can not only guide effective implementation but lock in commitment from partners. Leveraging both Theory of Change (TOC) management and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) frameworks is essential for guiding impactful and adaptive partnerships. Governance systems should balance international expertise with local leadership, ensuring equity and cultural sensitivity. Systemic design that integrates human-centred design and systems thinking enables inclusive decision-making and adaptive strategies. Finally, trust-building through transparent communication and shared accountability fosters long-term partnerships that thrive across diverse contexts. 

Can you provide an example of how your organization has used partnerships to accelerate sustainable development and climate solutions?

TERI, PSNC, LMI, Farm Monitor and Weeyacom are partnering on an innovative project leveraging Orange-Flesh Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) to address hunger, poverty, and climate change, with TERI spearheading the effort and LMI initiating and developing the cross-cutting strategy. The initiative integrates the global IT experts of PSNC and Farm Monitor in cutting-edge technologies, which enables optimizing biofertilizers, smart agribusiness IT, and bioeconomy solutions, to maximize OFSP’s potential as a functional food and superior second-generation biofeedstock. A feedstock that emanates from potentially the best use and securitization of arable land. And new players will be engaged in the programme, as it sets up the overall framework for addressing critical needs the UN SDG experts and the Pact for the Future say are so critical.  The societal value of this cuts across the sustainable farming community; business and industry’s joint profit and sustainability goals; community economic development enabling job-creation through cross-sectoral value chains; nutrition and health implications and parties; climate- and water-sensitive parties; and more.

Weeyacom’s role is to support and enhance collaboration among cross-sectoral stakeholders to facilitate goals attainment for individual participants and across the sectors. This systemic approach aligns with SDG 17 by breaking down silos to tackle interconnected challenges holistically. While much work has been done and this is being launched piece by piece, we are still in the funding stage for launching the holistic solution. But the project demonstrates the power of partnerships to deliver scalable and sustainable solutions, addressing critical global needs in food security, climate resilience, and economic development. #