Transnational Partnerships Research Articles

Sport for Social Change and Development: Sustaining Transnational Partnerships and Adapting International Curriculums to Local Contexts in Rwanda

Local Non-Governmental Organisations and sports organizations have been recognized as important and well positioned strategic implementing bodies by the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) sector. Whilst they may be experienced and knowledgeable of the historical and local sociocultural landscape, many seek to form transnational partnerships, for the purpose of expanding their capacity, sustainability, and expertise. Rwanda’s history of genocide frames much of its development objectives, and sport has been an integral method for implementing programmes that speak to social impact and reconciliation aims. This paper examines a transnational partnership active in Rwanda, that uses football as a tool to achieve its shared development goals. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Rwanda, by volunteering with the organizations as they delivered SDP programmes across the country. In doing so we were able to deconstruct the management and intricacies of this partnership and contextualize the important negotiations, management and style of approach when tackling difficult issues. This paper contributes to both expanding our knowledge of transnational partnerships and provides unique commentary that aligns the complexities of engaging with local populations in post-genocide Rwanda with ‘Sport for Social Development’ programming.

Transnational partnerships in higher education in China: The diversity and complexity of elite strategic alliances

Transnational partnerships between universities can illustrate the changing political, social, and cultural terrain of global higher education. Drawing on secondary data analysis of government educational statistics, university web pages, and a comprehensive literature review, this article focuses on transnational partnerships with particular reference to China in order to illuminate the diversifying relationships between networks of global universities. International partnerships develop in historical, geographic, social, and cultural contexts and the analysis of Chinese universities’ partnerships across different social, cultural, and geopolitical contexts indicates that, even within the elite groups of universities, transnational partnerships are diverse and complex. This article aims to demonstrate that the spread of internationalization in the form of transnational partnership is not uniform but is influenced by complex contextual factors, some of which are accentuating inequalities in the system.

Mozart in Madrās: Global Learning and Western Art Music

Recent developments in university internationalisation, including transnational partnerships between Western and Eastern institutions, raise challenging questions about the global mutability of arts and humanities degree programmes such as music. This article considers the international educational significance of western art music from the perspective of transnational undergraduate teaching, based on the author’s experience of working at KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India. A summary of art music’s problematic role in contemporary Western society leads to consideration of the global expansion of Western art music as practice and academic discipline. The reflective discussion focuses on several core pedagogical issues associated with the teaching of Western classical music in a non-Western environment, particularly the relevance of the historical contexts of colonialism and post-colonialism in shaping the meanings of the art form in present-day India.

Meta-Governance of Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Actorss Perspectives on How the UN Could Improve Partnershipss Governance Services in Areas of Limited Statehood

In the context of negotiations on the Post-2015 or 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the process of formulating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) (again) assigns an important role to multi-stakeholder partnerships. But how do actors view these partnerships more than ten years after the UN’s engagement with them?Our previous research found that transnational multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development are neither as successful as their proponents claim nor as ineffective as their critics argue (Beisheim/Liese 2014). In light of these findings, we ask whether relevant actors argue that lessons learned with regard to partnerships’ success conditions should be translated into rules and standards that guide the operations of existing and the development of new partnerships. This kind of meta-governance of partnerships could be exerted by state or non-state actors at the national or international level. Moreover, we distinguish between two broad functions of meta-governance: enabling and ensuring.In this paper, we present first insights into actors’ views on the meta-governance of partnerships. We focus on the actors in the UN-context, where reforms of the framework for partnerships are under debate.

The European Union's role in networks on removal of fossil fuel subsidies and disclosure of climate change information

This article deals with newly emerging international collaborative initiatives around two issues connected to climate change: removal of fossil fuel subsidies and improving climate information disclosure practices in the business sector. While networked initiatives on the gradual removal of fossil fuel subsidies and a multi-actor network on disclosure of climate change information do not explicitly mobilize collective actions around climate change, they supplement and reinforce a wide array of other transnational initiatives and partnerships around climate change mitigation efforts. Analysed networks equip transnational policy processes around the climate change issue, initially formed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's member states, with new policy tools to mitigate human-induced climate change and hugely expand the membership of policy-making at the international level. Newly emerging transnational networks in the area of fossil fuel subsidies removal and improving climate change information disclosure practices in the corporate world also strive for harmonization of policy methods and instruments across international boundaries. The experience of the European Union (EU) in promoting climate change actions among its member states and in sustaining collaboration with private actors can serve as an exemplary and learning tool for transnational policy networks across continents. And the size of the EU's market together with its governance structure provides it with a common legitimate voice at the international arena for climate change decision-making.

Трансарктика в контексте российских приоритетов

In terms of the space concept, the prospects of Russia's new formats of global co-operation development through mutually beneficial transnational partnership in the Arctic are analyzed in the article. The possibility of implementation of Russia’s Eurasian and Arctic advantages in the Trans-Arctic as the key element of global connection between Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific spaces is considered. Until now the "Eurasian dividends" for Russia have been associated with strengthening of its positions in the Pacific Asia. However, the scale of Russian socio-economic and naval presence in this area does not allow the country to become a leader. The situation is completely different in the Trans-Arctic, where Russia’s total capacity is equal to that of other Arctic states. Moreover, in the Trans-Arctic the "Eurasian factor" may become an "influence multiplier" for Russia. This refers to Russia’s key role in the connection between Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific through the logistic chain: Northwest Passage – Northern sea route – Eastern Siberia’s river system – Trans-Siberian Railway. The Trans-Arctic may become a "testing ground" for neutralisation of attempts to isolate Russia from global governance, which appeared in G-8 dismantling. The initiation of a new structure with participation of global “extraregional” actors, first of all Russia's strategic BRICS partners, could become its efficient Arctic pivot. Special attention is paid to subjects of the multilevel governance over the Trans-Arctic, to aspects of connection between transnational spaces, to the potential conflictogenity of the Arctic macroregion, and to the problem of the sovereignty concept classical understanding transformation, which appeared in the Arctic context. The relevance of the topic stems from decisions of the RF Security Council special extended meeting (April 2014), which put the "qualitative strengthening" of Russian positions in the Arctic, "preservation of Russian influence" in the region, and "advancing of partners" as major priorities. The tendencies of the Arctic transnationalisation and of the Trans-Arctic formation indicate a serious challenge for the Russian expert community and policy-makers. On one hand, Russia cannot sacrifice its national interests and restrict its rights and powers in the areas, to which its sovereignty and jurisdiction extend. On the other hand, formation of a new global governance regime in the Arctic gives Russia a chance to strengthen its leadership in this polar area, since the socio-economic, political and reputation dividends brought by such regime might be extremely high.

Engaging Migrants in Translocal Partnerships: the Case of Dutch–Moroccan and Dutch–Turkish Municipal Partnerships

AbstractFrom 2000 onwards, Dutch local governments have established transnational partnerships with local governments in Morocco and Turkey, two main migrant source countries to the Netherlands. These municipal partnerships aim at strengthening and transforming local governance on both sides of the partnerships. This is particularly relevant as roles of local governments in Morocco and Turkey are changing because of decentralisation and democratisation processes, whereas Dutch municipalities face challenges related to ethnic and cultural diversity. This paper seeks to answer two questions: first, what roles migrants play within these partnerships, and second, how the involvement of migrants influences the process of knowledge exchange and mutual learning leading to changes in local governance. The paper is based on a case study approach including five municipal partnerships and contributes both to the scarce body of knowledge about the roles of migrants in transnational cooperation at the local level and to the limited research on mutual learning in municipal partnerships. The research shows migrants fulfil several roles; they act as initiators, key actors, facilitators, and contributors of specialised and cultural knowledge. Their role as facilitators in the exchanges focusing at the interfaces between local governments and citizens is particularly relevant as introducing youth participation is new in the involved municipalities in Morocco and dealing with cultural diversity is a continuing challenge in the Dutch municipalities. There still is a large untapped potential as limited use is made of involving larger groups of migrants and on drawing on their networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Current initiatives in One Health: consolidating the One Health Global Network

The Global Response to Avian Influenza has led to a longer-term One Health movement, which addresses risks, including zoonoses, at the human-animal- environment interface, and requires the development of innovative partnerships at the political, institutional and technical levels. One Health is a sustainable and rational option when the cumulative effects of health hazards on food and economic security are considered, but demands long-term financial investment. Projections of growth in the demand for livestock production and consumption in Asia and Africa also call for effective One Health responses. However, an effective response also requires validated evidence of the socio-economic value that the One Health approach can provide. Implementing the One Health approach depends on forging strong links between human and animal health services, the environment and public policy. The authors present a list of some of the national and transnational partnerships established since 2006. Political support, good governance and effective policies and networks are crucial building blocks for One Health sustainability. The Global Response to Avian Influenza was initially established under the joint leadership of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations System Influenza Coordination Office. Since then it has supported numerous initiatives, including the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Global Early Warning System (GLEWS). Indeed, the Global Response to Avian Influenza paved the way for an unprecedented WHO/FAO/OIE tripartite partnership, which promoted the integration of foodborne, neglected zoonotic and tropical diseases within the One Health movement and led to the tripartite High-Level Technical Meeting of 2011 in Mexico. The One Health Global Network, which began as a proposition at an Expert Consultation in Winnipeg, Canada, in 2009, is now a reality. While its Global Guidance Group takes shape, the choice of soft-governance--an approach which relies more on information and advisory guidelines than on hierarchy and legislation, and which aims to steer local organisations rather than to control them--remains challenging. Nonetheless, the emergence of One Health as a professional and academic discipline, together with the growing references to a One Health culture, also offers new opportunities.

Investigating Transnational Collaboration of Faculty Development and Learning: An Argument for Making Learning Culturally Relevant

Professional development offered to higher education faculty is meant to enhance pedagogy and improve practice. Inspired by a transnational partnership in Southeast Asia, this study aimed to discover how teacher education faculty perceived faculty development offered to them by university partnership colleagues from the United States. Survey findings indicate that certain faculty development strategies improved teaching and assessment practices and enhanced self-reflection. However, evidence also showed some negative faculty perceptions in relation to the US partner’s methodologies, and qualitative responses indicated a lack of relevancy to the Southeastern Asia context. Furthermore, negative correlations were found between faculty development workshops and teacher education faculty teaching subject area endorsement content and their praxis. Very little has been written on the impact of teacher educator professional development offered by transnational academic partnerships. Universities involved as transnational partners must be flexible, culturally sensitive and determine together areas of priority and relevance as a definition of success for partnership effectiveness.

Organizational Legitimation in the Age of Governing by Numbers: The Case of Regulatory Partnerships on ESG Issues and Financial Decisions

The article analyses the legitimation processes of two transnational regulatory partnerships—the Equator Principles (EP) and the Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI)—providing guidelines for global financial institutions to take societal responsibility in their financial decisions. By using the theoretical concept of organizational legitimation it is argued that partnerships seek legitimacy from their audiences by constructing their boundaries (identity), coordinating activities (hierarchy), and producing goals (rationality). The empirical analysis shows that the EP and the PRI follow classical strategies of organizational legitimation. They reflect the norm of being societally responsible and create an agency that can be accountable for conformity with standards on environmental, social, and governance issues. The article pinpoints, however, two dilemmas for the EP and the PRI that stem from the global trend of governing by numbers, resulting in an expectations gap between the signatories and external NGOs. Those dilemmas could instead lead to a delegitimation of the partnerships.

The rise of the Brazilian blockbuster: how ideas of exceptionality and scale shape a booming cinema

Increased transnational partnerships, commercialization, and convergence largely shape the organizational and industrial dynamics of Brazilian media industries today. This article examines the current Brazilian blockbuster cycle as a production model as well as through discourses of exceptionality and distribution mentalities. Based on interviews and field research, trade stories suggest Brazilian filmmakers are not trying to replicate Hollywood but adapt parts of a production strategy to reimagine the scale and commercial nature of this national cinema. Overall, the 2000s blockbuster cycle follows traditional discourses surrounding the blockbuster such as scope, scale, and exceptionality on a local level, yet reflects an aim to promote the Brazilian economy and national identity as a powerful player on the global stage. A closer look at the Tropa de Elite film franchise reveals how the local blockbuster reflects industrial practices and discursive patterns of culture-as-resource. As a “mode of differentiated production,” the local blockbuster model trades on exception and cultural particularities as currency within the transnational economy.

Transnational Partnerships: Conditions for Successful Service Provision in Areas of Limited Statehood

Transnational public–private partnerships (PPPs) are external governance actors in the field of development cooperation and vary in composition, potentially including nonprofit and for‐profit organizations, state and public agencies, and intergovernmental organizations. This article analyzes the conditions under which PPPs have been successful in providing access to basic services (water, sanitation, and food) in areas of limited statehood in Bangladesh, India, and Kenya. We focus on 10 projects carried out by two PPPs that differ in two key respects: legitimacy and institutional design. We show that partnerships with high empirical legitimacy and an appropriate institutional design are best able to fulfill complex tasks in contexts of limited statehood. A participatory approach can promote legitimacy and thus success; projects that lack legitimacy are prone to failure. Additionally, a project's institutional design must address problems that commonly affect areas of limited statehood: It should provide access to resources for capacity development, ensure adequate monitoring, and be tailored to local needs.

Gendered Motivations, Sociocultural Constraints, and Psychobehavioral Consequences of Transnational Partnerships in Cambodia

Global flows of people, information, and capital have created transnational spaces in Cambodia. Within those spaces exists the formation of complex and multilayered interpersonal relationships between people attempting to capitalize on the opportunities created by these flows. The purpose of this article is to describe these transnational relationships, namely, between young women employed in the entertainment sectors in Phnom Penh and their western male partners, while highlighting the racialized and gendered motivations of the global actors, the inevitable sociocultural conflicts/constraints/misunderstandings that arise within the partnerships, and the resulting challenges and psychobehavioral consequences experienced by the mobile and differentiated individuals involved in these postcolonial relational formations.

Boomerangs to Partnerships? Explaining State Participation in Transnational Partnerships for Sustainability

This article examines under what conditions states engage in transnational public–private partnerships for the environment. While there is hardly a disagreement in the literature on the rise of transnational actors and new modes of collaborative governance, their interaction with and impact on state institutions remain debated and insufficiently illuminated by empirical research. Some scholars of globalization interpret transnational partnerships as evidence of state insufficiency and retreat, others emphasize the continued primacy of state power in manipulating old and new institutional arenas, still other scholars anticipate the “rearticulation” of the state to partake in new governance. This study is one of the first to examine theoretically and empirically, using a sample of some 230 partnerships, how domestic capacity, the constituencies of transnational actors, as well as international donors and institutions shape the variable rearticulation of the state to partake in partnerships. A comparative case study of Brazil and Russia provides further detail on the political dynamics that enable or constrain state-society collaborations for the environment.

Constructing a ladder of transnational partnership working in support of marine spatial planning: Thoughts from the Irish Sea

This paper adds to the growing body of literature on partnerships and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) by constructing a ladder of transnational partnership working which can act as an aid to partnership development. The first part draws upon partnership working and co-management literature and identifies 5 levels of transnational partnership working: Information Sharing; Administration Sharing; Agreed Joint Rules; Combined Organisation; and Combined Constitution and illustrates what these might entail with reference to established maritime partnerships. The second part of the paper then explores how these generic levels may be used to structure transnational partnership development in a particular marine setting. This draws upon the outputs of two Irish Sea Transnational Partnership Working events which were funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council, and in particular on the exploration of motivations for collaboration which was a key point of discussion. In conclusion the paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of the ladder and how it may be enhanced and used more widely to better understand and analyse existing transnational partnership activity and guide the development of new transnational partnerships in support of MSP.

Are Standards-Based Quality Systems a Threat to the Internationalization of Teaching and Learning?

This paper explores the current shift in Australia’s higher education system moving to a more explicit, standards-based quality system and its potential impact on international partnerships in teaching and learning, particularly in Asia. The new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and the underlying Higher Education Standards Framework have the potential to threaten a large number of transnational or cross-border programs delivered outside of Australia. With over one hundred and fifty thousand tertiary students studying Australian programs in Asia, the impact could be significant. It would also be significant for countries that leverage of Australian Universities to build human capacity within their country. The paper highlights the current practice of assuring equivalent and comparable academic standards in transnational education and explores how shifting to a more precise standards framework will require more explicit demonstration of standards across teaching, learning and student outcomes. If equivalent or comparable standards were to be achieved across the whole standards framework, it is likely to constrain the opportunities for internationalization and the formation of new transnational partnerships.

Networked curricula: Fostering transnational partnerships in open and distance learning

Transnational Networked Curricula (TNC) provides many benefits to the institutions that offer them as well as to the different stakeholders involved, not only the students but also the academics, the institutions as a whole, and the wider society. Supporting Higher Education Institutions in enhancing and implementing international networked practices in virtual campus building is the main aim of the NetCU project, which has been developed by the EADTU, in partnership with 14 member organizations, from 2009 to 2012. The project outcomes intend to facilitate the future set-up of networked curricula in Higher Education institutions and potentially lead to more transnational partnerships in Open and Distance Education (ODE) and blended learning, showing challenges, obstacles and ways to overcome them. This paper presents the main products developed in the project, assesses its completeness and usage, and discusses on the challenges of curricula networking starting from the ideas and opinions shared in different stakeholders workshops organized under the NetCU project.

Donor-Supported Transnational Higher Education Initiatives for Development and Research: A Framework for Analysis and a Call for Increased Transparency

As universities in the North and South become increasingly dependent on donor patronage for research and sustainable development initiatives, systematic assessments of transnational-partnership-award decisions and outcomes are of rising interest in academic and policy circles. After presenting a conceptual framework that facilitates comparative analysis of donor awards to higher education institutions, the author applies the framework to a subset of 197 proposals advanced by the US and the Canadian universities that recently received United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funding. The distribution of awards generally proves consistent with expectations based on the donor's regional/country priorities and programme objectives, particularly with regard to institutional capacity building and human capability building. The article includes a call for increased transparency in web postings regarding successful and unsuccessful transnational higher education partnerships for research and development and concludes by considering implications for sustainable development of the emphasis on capacity building observed in recent USAID- and CIDA-supported transnational higher education partnerships.

Higher Education Collaboration in Kenya

Higher education in developing countries presents an opportunity both for investment and development, if specific challenges can be overcome. This article looks at the opportunities for higher education in a developing country, Kenya, and how these experiences have enabled an identification of issues that must be dealt with for higher education to grow both as an investment and capacity-building opportunity for developing countries. It offers a brief narrative on the history of higher education in Kenya, and the types of higher education collaborations. Using a case study of a long established transnational education collaborative partnership between INtel College, Kenya, and the University of Sunderland, UK, it explores the framework for such operations and challenges and perspectives of the partnership. Finally, it presents a view of the future of transnational education in a nation which indeed may have relevance in any developing country.

Lessons Learned for ECQA LLP-LdV Projects’ Management

Cooperation at European level in the education and training areas is supported by different types of projects that contribute to countries’ educational reforms, but also, to knowledge and practices enrichment. According to the a Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020) through adequate projects of trans-national partnerships, there have to be developed key competencies needed for personal fulfillment, active citizenship, social inclusion and employability in the knowledge base society (communication in the mother tongue and in foreign languages; mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology; digital competence; learning to learn; social and civic competences; sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; cultural awareness and expression). In this context, the article will present some lessons learned from the Lifelong Learning Program – Leonardo da Vinci projects (LLP-LdV). After a brief introduction related to European education objectives and strategies retrieved from the official documents of the Commission, there is described the context of the research by presenting the European Certification and Qualification Association (ECQA, www.ecqa.org) and the related LLP-LdV projects that were built using the ECQA schema in order to support the key competencies development. Finally, there are summarized the conclusions and lessons learned from these type of projects together with the prototype of the successful manager.