Collaboration - You Can Make It Work With Great Results
In this IPANZ lunchtime event, Andrew Crisp, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Nigel Bickle, Chief Executive of Hastings District Council shared their experience collaborating on the Place Based Housing Initiative in Hastings - an excellent example of collaboration between community, iwi, local and central government!
Andrew and Nigel skillfully combined the big picture of recent developments in systems, institutions and capability in New Zealand’s housing sector with a clear focus on the lives of people in Hastings and their housing needs, while sharing their reflections on the deep relationships needed to support this collaboration through good times and bad.
Here are some of the key messages from the session -
- People must be at the centre of all decision-making.
- Invest in local partnerships/relationships.
- Lead from place (iwi, community, local government), enable from centre (central government).
- All partners must accept the problem, the challenges and contribute to solutions.
- System-wide approach is critical - issues are complex and intersect across sector departments/agencies. One-size fits all approach does not work!
- Keys to success
- Get government / ministerial support
- Find the right organisations and people involved from the start - a coalition of the willing
- Agree on a unified approach to the project - have absolute clarity on intended outcomes and ways of working
- Establish clear governance, operational and management structures
- Set clear accountabilities and regular progress reporting
- Understand each partners capability and capacity
- Put in place structures and processes that can survive successive governments
- Know when to escalate challenges, barriers and constraints to those who can make the desired changes