Transformative Partnership Award › Collective Leadership Institute

The Transformative Partnership Award

recognizes and celebrates exceptional multi-stakeholder Partnerships

Partnership approaches continue to find too little application and attention. As a rule, partnership prizes are still awarded purely for results, instead of for the development of quality processes and methods towards sustainable results. Events that are difficult to predict, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, show us that process and system skills for partnerships are a key competence that strengthens resilience, and that shows sustainable solutions to the complex goals of the 2030 Agenda.

The CLI would like to fill this gap, and for this reason has launched its Transformative Partnership Award.

Apply for the Transformative Partnership Award

It is free and a simple process via CLI's online academy

start application

What the award recognizes

The winning institution/organization demonstrates that their partnership successfully contributed to transformative change related to sustainability, meeting several or all of the following criteria:

Winner projects 2024.

More inspiration which projects are eligible and have good chances to win in the projects 2024 section further below.

Please make yourself familiar with the prizes, processes, and FAQs first.

Winner's Interview - Transformative Partnership Award 2024

Play Africa, South Africa

Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform, Sierra Leone

Circular Regions – Locals.Global, Circular Economy Coalition, Norway

Award prizes

The CLI Transformative Partnership Award will hand out main prizes for the first three places:

First place will receive an amount of €10,000 as a contribution to their own funds. This amount should support a partnership initiative or can be used for capacity building.

Second place can select a project staff member or project partner to participate in the Collective Leadership Institute’s online certification program free of charge. This online certification leads the participant to be an expert in Collective Leadership and makes them a changemaker and supporter for the group and the project.

Third place may choose a project staff member or project partner to attend one Collective Leadership Institute online/hybrid training of their choice at no cost, strengthening the project where it is needed most.

All shortlisted nominees will receive recognition in the form of a digital badge for their contribution. They will also be featured in our award campaigns and given the opportunity to network with other nominated projects to expand their network and benefit from the community.

For the upcoming award, one representative of all three winning partnerships respectively will also be invited to the award ceremony in Potsdam in April 2025, for the kick-off event of the Transformation Literacy Conference 2025.

Process and deadlines

Application phase

until the 31 August 2024, 23.59 CEST
Organizations can apply for the 2025 award via the CLI’s online academy here.

Evaluation and Nomination phase

reply to questions until the 30 November 2024, 23.59 CET, decision by panel until mid-January 2025
After the review of all applications, selected organizations will be invited to submit more detailed descriptions of their partnerships for a panel of experts to make their decision.

Award ceremony

in April 2025, Potsdam (Germany)
One representative of each of the three prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony as the highlight of the kick-off event of the Transformation Literacy Conference 2025

Apply for the Transformative Partnership Award

It is free and a simple process via CLI's online academy

start application

A video guide on: how to apply for the Award?

Transformative Partnership Award - info session documentation

On 10 July 2024, CLI held and info session on how to apply for CLI's Transformative Partnership Award. Learn more about the eligibility criteria, prizes, process and deadline, and tips for application. You can download the presentation here.

Download the presentation

Troubles submitting your project? Here is a short step by step technical guide here.
If there are still difficulties or questions, contact germany@collectiveleadership.com.

You find more about the Terms and Conditions here.

Step by Step Technical Guide

Info Session 10 July 2024 Documentation

Word-Form - fill-in support 2024 - can be reused for 2025 (application stage 1)

Word-Form - fill-in support 2024 - can be reused for 2025 (application stage 2)

Terms and Conditions

FAQ's

Who can apply?
Every organization or institution with not-for-profit or charitable status, that meet the award conditions.

What are the fees of a submission?
There is no fee to apply or be a finalist for the Transformative Partnership Award.

How can I apply?
Click here to go to our online Academy. Here you must click on “Start the Course” to begin the nomination process. Detailed instructions can be found here.

What language should the nomination be written in?
All information has to be submitted in English or German. Supporting documents may also be in French or Spanish.

When is the closing date for applications?
The application deadline for the Transformative Partnership Award 2025 is 31 August 2024, 23:59 CET.
The last day to enter submissions is 31 August – so don’t wait to apply!

How many projects can I submit an application for?
You can put in as many as you like! But you can submit each project only once.

I submitted my application; can I make some edits?
Unfortunately, you can’t make any changes to your application once it’s submitted. However, if something important is missing or needs to be updated after you uploaded your application, please contact the CLI office at germany@collectiveleadership.com.

Who is in the panel?
The panel experts will be announced in September 2024. It is formed of CLI and independent third parties with expertise in the fields of multi stakeholder partnerships and sustainable collaboration.

Will the Award be on an annual basis?

The Transformative Partnership Award 2025 is the second edition. It is CLI’s plan to make it an annual event along with the annual Transformation Literacy Conference week in April each year.

Am I allowed to submit an application if our organisation / initiative has applied for previous Transformative Partnership Award editions?

Winners (places 1-3) are not allowed to re-apply with their organisations / initiatives in the two years following their Award year (a winner of the 2024 edition can apply again in 2027). This is to ensure a diversity of projects being highlighted through this Award.

If you were not among the top 3 in the past, you are more than welcome tp apply again! Perhaps your partnership project developed well and can add much more value to this year’s Award competition. Or another project that you started in the past is now mature enough to be presented. We are more than happy to welcome you back again.

Material Rights
Submitted projects must be original and may not infringe on the rights of a third party. Projects failing these requirements will be excluded from The Transformative Partnership Award. More information to the Terms and Condition will be found here and during the application process.

Apply for the Transformative Partnership Award

It is free and a simple process via CLI's online academy

start application

Projects 2025

Stage 1 (eligible projects):

In the following list you can see projects for the 2025 Award that made it through the eligibility check (registration closes 31 August 2024, full list as of as of 19 August, after reviewing x applications in total):

Appliying Organisation	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region
FEMNET	Gender & Health in the Garment & Footwear Sector	Germany
ZONAL	Program for mobilizing local actors for priority SDGs	Chad
Kajulu Hills Eco-villages	African Indigenous Ecosystems Restoration Program	Kenya
GEMRICIK	Waste Bank Cihampelas Mandiri	Indonesia
Saidika	Empowering Youth for Global Change	Kenya
Community Support Center / CSC-Asbl	Play4Peace and Mental Health Support	DR Congo
Rujak Center for Urban Studies	Housing Rights in Jakarta	Indonesia
Food and Trees for Africa	The EduPlant Programme	South Africa
Green Hope Foundation	Environmental Education Partnership to Empower School Children	Canada
Enda Pronat	Dynamique pour une Transition Agroécologique au Sénégal (DyTAES)	Senegal
AHK Argentina	Multi-sector Collective Action in Health and Construction Industries	Argentina

More information on next steps will be coming after the eligible projects were identified for the nomination event.

In the map below you find all projects that have participated in several stages of the Transformative Partnership Award 2024-2025:

Stage 2 (shortlisted projects – nominees):

Here you find those eligible projects that made it to the shortlist 2024:

Appliying Organisation	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region	Topic(s)
FEMNET	Gender & Health in the Garment & Footwear Sector	Germany	gender equality, health, decent work
ZONAL	Program for mobilizing local actors for priority SDGs	Chad	localization of SDGs
GEMRICIK	Waste Bank Cihampelas Mandiri	Indonesia	environmental project of student volunteers
Saidika	Empowering Youth for Global Change	Kenya	health, eradicating poverty, education, empowerment
Community Support Center / CSC-Asbl	Play4Peace and Mental Health Support	DR Congo	peacebuilding and mental health
Rujak Center for Urban Studies	Housing Rights in Jakarta	Indonesia	local urban development
Green Hope Foundation	Environmental Education Partnership to Empower School Children	Canada	education for sustainable development (ESD)
Enda Pronat	Dynamique pour une Transition Agroécologique au Sénégal (DyTAES)	Senegal	climate change adaptation in agriculture
AHK Argentina	Multi-sector Collective Action in Health and Construction Industries	Argentina	Compliance and transparency in different industries

Panel 2025

Rilli Lappalainen

CEO of BRIDGE 47

“I am very pleased to join in the jury and identify the 2025 Transformative Partnership Award winner. We need fresh, positive examples to make the transformation real, learn from each other and especially celebrate new ideas and innovations.”

Cholpon Aitakhunova

Project Manager Central Asia at Collective Leadership Institute

“It is an honor to serve on this year’s jury. The participating projects exemplify how, despite numerous challenges, meaningful action is happening globally – driven by the power of partnerships.”

Zvikomborero Kanyoka

Associate Director at Play Africa

Zviko represents the TPA 2024 winner Play Africa and we are more than happy that she joins the 2025 panel. Her statement will follow soon.

Ralph Wollmann

Scientific Associate at International Academy Transformation for Environment and Sustainability (TES Academy) at the German Environment Agency (UBA)

“When we embrace diverse perspectives, novel interventions and alliances can emerge to rebuild trust and cooperation in our uncertain world. Therefore, I’m thrilled to get to know your examples and best-practices on how partnership approaches can drive necessary changes toward a sustainable and equitable future.“

Elisabeth Kuehn

Co-Executive Director at Collective Leadership Institute

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel again and identifying the 2025 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because the enormous effort, skill and dedication that goes into building sustainable and transformative partnerships so often does not get appreciated or recognized. It is past time that we honor those people and organizations who have successfully built such partnerships, and who show us ways into making future transformations a reality.”

Projects 2024

Stage 1 (eligible projects):

In the following list you can see projects for the 2024 Award that made it through the eligibility check (registration is closed, full list as of 1 September 2023 after reviewing 67 applications in total):

Appliying Organisation	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region
Kajulu Hills Eco-villages	African Indigenous Ecosystems Restoration Project	Kenya
People Power Volunteers for Reform – Caraga	Oplan Tabang Ginikanan (Oplan Help Parents)	Philippines
AQC Association pour l’Assurance Qualité des Fabricants de Bracelets Cuir	Association for Quality Assurance of Leather Bracelets Manufacturers	Switzerland
Fundusz Partnerstwa	Partnership Academy for community leaders	Poland
Bike for Good	Switch Up	United Kingdom
GEMRICIK	Waste Bank Cihampelas Mandiri	Indonesia
Centre for Coastal Environmental Conservation	Sundarban conservation	Bangladesh
NABU	Bridge to Literacy Program	United States
Land for Life	Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform	Sierra Leone
DyTAES	Dynamic for an Agroecological Transition in Senegal	Senegal
Charlene’s Project	Kiryandongo Cluster Project	United Kingdom
National Young Farmers Coalition	One Million Acres for the Future	United States
Leapfrog	Digital Literacy for School Teachers in Bukedea	Germany
GPSNR	Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber	Singapore
Circular Regions – Locals.Global	Circular Economy Coalition	Norway
Dream a Dream	Project Sampoorna	India
The Palestinian Association for Empowerment and Local Development, REFORM	United in Diversity	Palestine
Associação Fazer Avançar	Speak Network	Portugal
Play Africa	Play Africa	South Africa
Leadership Eastside	Leadership Eastside	United States
AGUA SUSTENTABLE	Mujeres Unidas en Defensa del Agua	Bolivia

Nonimation Event - project introduction

Nomination Event - Agenda

Nonimation Event - project exchange

Nomination Event - Panel introduction

Nomination Event - Ceremony

Stage 2 (shortlisted projects – nominees):

Here you find those eligible projects that made it to the shortlist 2024:

Appliying Organisation	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region	Topic
People Power Volunteers for Reform – Caraga	Oplan Tabang Ginikanan (Oplan Help Parents)	Philippines	education programme helping parents through the pandemic
Fundusz Partnerstwa	Partnership Academy for community leaders	Poland	local community empowerment across Central Eastern Europe
GEMRICIK	Waste Bank Cihampelas Mandiri	Indonesia	environmental project of student volunteers
Land for Life	Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform	Sierra Leone	land management
DyTAES	Dynamic for an Agroecological Transition in Senegal	Senegal	climate change adaptation in agriculture
Leapfrog	Digital Literacy for School Teachers in Bukedea	Germany	digital and soft skills for students and teachers
GPSNR	Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber	Singapore	rubber value chains
Circular Regions – Locals.Global	Circular Economy Coalition	Norway	circular economy
Dream a Dream	Project Sampoorna	India	social-emotional learning at schools
The Palestinian Association for Empowerment and Local Development, REFORM	United in Diversity	Palestine	citizen empowerment and democratization
Play Africa	Play Africa	South Africa	children’s education
AGUA SUSTENTABLE	Mujeres Unidas en Defensa del Agua	Bolivia	water security

People Power Volunteers for Reform Caraga, Oplan Tabang Ginikanan (Oplan Help Parents), Philippines

Fundusz Partnerstwa, Partnership Academy for community leaders, Poland

GEMRICIK, Waste Bank Cihampelas Mandiri, Indonesia

Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform, Sierra Leone

DyTAES, Dynamic for an Agroecological Transition in Senegal, Senegal

Leapfrog, Digital Literacy for School Teachers in Bukedea, Germany

GPSNR, Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, Singapore

Circular Regions – Locals.Global, Circular Economy Coalition, Norway

Dream a Dream, Project Sampoorna, India

The Palestinian Association for Empowerment and Local Development REFORM, United in Diversity, Palestine

Play Africa, South Africa

AGUA SUSTENTABLE, Mujeres Unidas en Defensa del Agua, Bolivia

Stage 3 (finalists):

These projects made it to the final Award ceremony in Potsdam on 19 April 2024 (random order):

Appliying Organisation	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region	Topic
Land for Life	Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform	Sierra Leone	land management
Circular Regions – Locals.Global	Circular Economy Coalition	Norway	circular economy
Play Africa	Play Africa	South Africa	children’s education

Presentation slides Finalist session on 1 February 2024 (PDF, 1.40Mb)

Finalists

Land for Life

Transformative partnership on land management in Sierra Leone

Land for Life was initiated in 2018 to facilitate multi-actor processes in four African countries – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. While there is an effective coordination of the four countries from Welthungerhilfe office in Bonn, each country works in an independent version, using an approach that best responses to the context and need of the country.
Thus, in Sierra Leone, at the time Land for Life started, there was already a country-level multi-stakeholder partnership, known as the VGGT Technical Working Group – (VGGT-TWG) – on Land. The TWG was established by the UN-FAO and co-steered by the government’s Ministry of Land, Housing and Country Planning. The Group’s membership has been progressively reviewed to include government ministries and agencies, CSOs, private sector interest groups, traditional authorities under the umbrella of the National Council of Paramount Chiefs, and international development organizations that remotely provide technical support. Land for Life is registered in Sierra Leone as a network of four well-established CSOs and is a member of the TWG.

More information about this partnership (PDF, 0.07Mb)

Circular Economy Coalition

Transformative partnership on circular economy in Norway

The Circular Economy Coalition (CEC) stands as a testament to the power of transformative change in the realm of sustainability through partnership. Originating as an evolution of an existing partner network launched in 2018, the CEC has metamorphosed into a robust ecosystem functioning as a Value Network. This international coalition, comprising value-aligned individuals and organizations from over 30 countries, is united by a shared vision of advancing the circular economy through shared tools and resources. The CEC has been instrumental in fostering structural, behavioral, cultural, and individual changes across the globe. At its core, the coalition promotes a shared vision of “Circularity 4 All,” emphasizing that living, biological, technical, and financial resources should be maintained and utilized to their highest societal value at all times.

More information about this partnership (PDF, 0.07Mb)

Play Africa

Transformative partnership on children's education in South Africa

Play Africa at Constitution Hill is a collaboration between Play Africa Group NPC and Constitution Hill and diverse stakeholders. Play Africa is operating as a pioneering children’s museum that creates inclusive spaces for high-quality play and playful learning experiences for children ages birth to 12. With an impressive nine-year track record of successful operations, we’ve become a platform to champion children’s rights, bring families together, and foster social inclusivity through inspiring play-based exhibits and facilitated programmes. Play Africa is nestled within the iconic Constitution Hill – a former prison complex and now a human rights precinct and home to South Africa’s Constitutional Court – a mere 15 metres away from Nelson Mandela’s former cell. We transform this apartheid-era prison from a site of humiliation, oppression, and fear, into a joyful family playscape of discovery and learning. However, not every child can come to us, so we create pop-up experiences in the city itself — on street corners, school halls, parks, community centres, and inner city rooftops.

More information about this partnership (PDF, 0.07Mb)

The Award ceremony announcing the winner(s) of the Transformative Partnership Award 2024 was held in Potsdam on 19 April 2024, along with the Kick-Off Event of the 3rd Transformation Literacy Conference.

Stage 4 (winners):

The winner of the Transformative Partnership Award 2024 is:

Rank	Partnership Project	Place/Country/Region	Panel score (max. 60)
1	Play Africa, represented by Zvikomborero Kanyoka	South Africa	48.17
2	Land for Life District Multi-Stakeholder Platform, represented by Berns Komba Lebbie	Sierra Leone	47.40
3	Circular Economy Coalition, represented by Cynthia Reynolds	Norway	47.33

Transformative Partnership Award Ceremony Potsdam 2024

A video from the Award ceremony will be published here end of April 2024.

Panel 2024

Lulekwa Gqiba

Executive Director and Senior Facilitator CLI Office South Africa

Lulekwa has over 17 years combined project management experience in government, research institutes and non-profit organisations operating internationally. At CLI, Lulekwa plans, manages, and facilitates trainings hosted in Germany, across Africa and in Asia. As part of her portfolio, she conducts feasibility studies for multi-stakeholder partnerships, manages and engages in process support and has worked on diverse projects. Lulekwa’s role as a Country Representative extends to overseeing CLI’s overall Africa strategy.

Building on her studies in Public Management at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of South Africa, and experience from having supported initiatives from 20+ countries, Lulekwa’s interests lie in how improved multi-stakeholder collaboration ecosystems propel development in Africa and beyond. Lulekwa is currently exploring emerging trends around sustainability in the Southern Hemisphere’s next generation of leadership.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel that will be selecting the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner. It is an honour to be part of this group that review the amazing applications that bring our attention to realities of what goes into making multi-stakeholder collaboration work.”

Rilli Lappalainen

Chair of BRIDGE 47 and acting director of Demo Finland

Rilli Lappalainen is the founder and chair of Bridge 47, which is a global network to bring people together to share and learn with the help of global citizenship education. Bridge 47 works by networking, doing advocacy, building partnerships, and creating innovations. Global citizenship education has been the red line of Rilli´s work and life from local scouts to global networking. Rilli has experiences of working in all continents from local projects to UN level policy processes. Rilli also serves as a vice-chair of Forus and has been a regular speaker in international and national events and media.

Rilli’s background in engineering, education and international politics has supported the passion of finding better ways to integrate learning and education in politics and practices and mixing things up to find new solutions for all.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel and identifying the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because we can celebrate the amazing examples to make transformation in practice and also learn from each other.”

Susanne Salz

Project Leader Partnerships2030 Platform at GIZ

Susanne Salz’s key areas of expertise and interest are sustainable development and global governance. She is heading the project on multi-stakeholder-partnerships to implement the 2030 Agenda at GIZ.

Previously, Susanne started the United Actors, an innovative start-up in the global governance scene, worked at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign, at the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the OECD and UN Volunteers. In 2012, Susanne managed the involvement of local governments in the UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development on behalf of ICLEI. She holds a Master in International Relations from the London School of Economics and studied at the Unsiversity of Sussex and Sciences Po Paris for her Bachelor.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel and identifying the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because effective cooperation is essential for sustainable development. This award helps to bring attention to the fact that successful cooperation isn’t easy – yet it is worthwhile and possible!”

Russ Gaskin

Founder of CoCreative

Russ helps people who don’t know each other, and often don’t even like each other, solve complex problems together. His strength is developing the conditions and frameworks that support effective and meaningful collaboration across deep sectoral and cultural boundaries.

Russ also builds the capacities of others to lead effective collaboration by speaking and teaching around the world on shifting complex systems, human-centered design, and leveraging difference and conflict as sources of social innovation. In his guest faculty role, he has taught workshops and graduate courses on social innovation, collaborative systems change, and creating shared value.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel and identifying the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because we need to recognize and celebrate collaborations that are showing the way to truly realize the future we need and want.”

Supriya Singh

CSR & Sustainability Leader; Member – The Club of Rome; Doctoral Researcher on Transformative Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships

Supriya Singh is corporate social responsibility and sustainability leader and expert. She is also a member of The Club of Rome. Currently, she is pursuing her doctoral research in Business and Human Rights focusing on learning in multistakeholder partnerships. She has worked for more than 18 years in business, academia and civil society building and transforming the CSR/ sustainability portfolios, crafting multistakeholder partnerships to find solutions for complex societal challenges. Her experience is entrenched in grassroots work, organizational change, human rights and research.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel and identifying the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because it takes years of intent and effort to craft effective partnerships and I am keen to learn and be inspired from such efforts that we so desperately need in today’s world.”

Elisabeth Kuehn

Co-Executive Director. Collective Leadership Institute

Elisabeth Kühn is is a strategic advisor and expert for international sustainability initiatives. With an extensive multi-disciplinary research background on empowerment of marginalized communities that draws i.a. on systems theory, international law and sociology, she has worked globally in promoting systems transformation for sustainability, advising and facilitating in particular multi-stakeholder initiatives for sustainable resource management and urban development. She has published research on diversity and empowerment as part of stewarding sustainability transformations in responsible value chains and integrated water management initiatives, and on promoting social capital for integration.

“I am looking forward to being part of the panel and identifying the 2024 Transformative Partnership Award winner, because the enormous effort, skill and dedication that goes into building sustainable and transformative partnerships so often does not get appreciated or recognized. It is past time that we honor those people and organizations who have successfully built such partnerships, and who show us ways into making future transformations a reality.”

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