Welcome to our February newsletter.
This year promises to be an exciting one for Collaborate, and we were delighted to kick off 2014 by launching a major new report in partnership with the Institute for Government and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 'Beyond Big Contracts' explores the readiness of public service commissioners and providers to meet citizen needs within an increasingly complex landscape. The report suggests that, in a number of key areas, current practice comes up short.
You can find the report, plus quotes and articles on our website HERE. You can watch a video of the launch presentation and panel discussion - including Lord Victor Adebowale (Turning Point & Collaborate, Helen Stephenson (Cabinet Office), and Michael Coughlin (Local Government Association) - HERE.
We will be developing our programmes on collaborative commissioning and collaborative localism through 2014, working with a range of local partners. If you would like to discuss this work, and join us to develop it, please get in touch.
Risk, Innovation & Reward - a new approach
One key finding from our work was the need for a more balanced relationship between risk, innovation and reward in public service partnerships, and we pick up this theme in a new programme of action research this spring. We are developing a collaborative risk framework that will help practitioners understand, share and manage risk - ensuring that the changing social and economic risks faced by communities are at the forefront of the model.
Collaborate is hosting a breakfast roundtable on 28th February (see our events page for details) to debate the key elements of this framework. We will be joined by a range of expert contributors including Barry Quirk CBE (Lewisham Council) and Rosie Ferguson (London Youth). If you would like to join us, please get in touch with Adelaide at adelaide@collaboratei.com .
 Being Better Partners from Homelessness to Housing
We are thrilled to be co-hosting a 'good partners charter' designed by Collaborate associate and Clore Social Fellow La Toyah McAllister-Jones. You can find the charter online, plus an interactive presentation and video telling the story of its development. La Toyah asks what it would take for organisations in the homelessness and housing sector to work better together - to better support citizens needs, and to survive in a tough new social, economic and policy environment.
La Toyah said: "The central aim of this project was to develop a practical tool for building partnerships; a Good Partners Charter. A set of guiding principles for developing practice amongst key stakeholders. At the very least it should provoke a debate about how we challenge the behaviours and attitudes that inhibit partnership working." Join La Toyah's Thunderclap campaign here to support the findings from this research - there are only 7 days to go!
You can keep in touch with our work and our emerging programme of events via collaboratei.com. We are collaborative by name and collaborative by nature, so please get in touch, let us know about your work, and help us to support future services to the public that break the mould and transform lives for the better.
Dr Henry Kippin, Director.
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