Cross-Sector Partnerships for Implementing Community Climate Action Plans: Implementation Structures, Partner Outcomes and Plan Outcomes

Abstract: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17, target 17.17 aims to “encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.” This research on collaborative strategic management and cross-sector partnerships studies structural features and outcomes in the context of climate action plans in Canadian cities. Its purpose is to assess the structural features of a partnership during plan implementation, and the related plan- and partner-centric outcomes. Four Partners for Climate Protection member municipalities were studied and their implementation structures, plan outcomes, and partner outcomes qualitatively assessed. Findings confirm that five implementation structural features are crucial for enabling the achievement of climate mitigation targets, and that partnership design affects partner outcomes, including a new outcome of ‘moral support’. This study fills theoretical gaps on the structural features of cross-sector partnerships that are aiming to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy usage in cities, and allows for additional insight into partner outcomes by participating in cross-sector partnerships.