Partnership Model

Australia’s long-standing involvement in water resources management in the region and its internationally recognised expertise is founded on decades of experience in reforming its domestic water sector, to create better and more sustainable systems for managing and allocating water between competing uses. Australia’s reputation as an honest broker and reliable partner offers an opportunity to collaborate with governments internationally to respond to very significant development challenges in support of sustainable water resources management. The Australian Water Partnership (AWP) is an innovative partnership model that provides an effective mechanism to connect requests for assistance from governments internationally through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Australian water sector expertise.

The value proposition

Why work with or through the AWP? The primary, high-level value proposition that AWP offers is to provide a mechanism for Partners to contribute to enhancing sustainable water management in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. AWP facilitates appropriate expertise around a demand-driven approach to water-related development challenges, assembling fit for purpose teams/consortia/individuals and mobilising them in a timely manner to where they are needed. There are a number of reasons and pathways to work with the AWP and other partners:

Development outcomes

Partnering to define/frame the issue/problem
Partnering to solve an issue/problem
Partnering to leverage/optimise impact
Partnering to enhance political buy-in/sustainability
Partnering to build capacity

Outreach and communication

Partnering to extend reach
Partnering to access previously inaccessible audiences
Partnering to amplify messages

Knowledge sharing and adaptation

Partnering to share knowledge
Partnering to adapt knowledge

Commercial opportunities

Partnering to create pathways to market

What is a valued and trusted partnership?

An effective partnership is one that is initiated to serve a common high-level purpose, in this case, an alignment between AWP’s vision and the recipient country’s vision for sustainable water management.

The partnership needs to ensure that all relevant stakeholders (including end-users) are included in the process of articulating and framing the issue. Diverse opinions and perspectives should be valued. Once the issue/problem has been clearly articulated, the partnership should draw on the collective wisdom from the past and present to address the issue(s).

A valued and trusted partnership is one where partners are in it for the long term – to solve the issue(s) – and ensure that solutions are sustainable from a financial and capability perspective.

A specific issue(s) preventing sustainable water management needs to be identified by governments, DFAT posts or multilateral organisations in the region. If there is appropriate Australian expertise, experienced in addressing this issue, then there is legitimacy in moving forward with a partnership to address that issue(s).

A valued and trusted partnership evolves when partners collaborate to ensure that the issue(s) is addressed in a way that is feasible and relevant to its environmental, political and cultural context. Solutions must be problem-driven and fit for purpose; they must be developed through a two-way iterative process, and regularly confirmed as relevant throughout the lifespan of the partnership action.

An effective partnership is one where there is an agreement to undertake actions together to achieve agreed outputs and outcomes that genuinely strive to make a difference to enhance sustainable water management.

A valued and trusted partnership is one where risk and responsibility for its success is shared.

An effective partnership is one that is politically acceptable to policy-makers, decision-makers and implementers.

An effective partnership is one that is appropriately funded and resourced.