Partnerships, Governance and Support
Shared ownership of your project can be important as your partners and stakeholders should all have valuable insight and experiences to add to your plans and overall vision. They might also be able to help with resourcing, funding, fundraising and widening your appeal to funders, grant giving bodies, buyers and investors.
Ideally the project partnership should include members from a wide range of stakeholder groups including landowners, local authorities and environmental NGOs. The key thing here is to get the right people – those who will champion the project, influence others, can get things done, and move the project forward. A key aspect to drive momentum in a project is the project having its own identity and is not replicating work that other groups are already covering.
If you are a small project team, a landowner or an individual, and are not sure about who to partner with or how to go about it we recommend you approach your local authority, the Liverpool City Region LNP or the Lancashire Wildlife trust for advice and support.
It is recommended that a project board, steering or working group has the following membership:
The partnership will need to meet on a regular basis, this should be determined by the core members. Key early stage decisions and actions that it will need to make should include:
Agree a shared vision for the project.
Agree a role for the partnership- enabling, advocacy, delivery...?
What formal standing the partnership requires- legal entity, community interest company etc.
Set up a formal mechanism to manage any funding or income- vital that this is properly regulated, will likely need a legal agreement.
Communications and advocacy- agreement on who will manage, control and carry out communications. Set rules or guidance on the approach.
Mapping exercise - Identify gaps in current work, avoid duplication and develop the project identity and purpose.
Secure funding and resources to cover salaries, costs associated with promotion, etc.
Project Management
A lot of information is available on how to manage projects, and most local authorities and NGO’s will have their own processes and in-house methodologies. However, it’s important that you consider the importance of effective project management and ensure that this resource is in place early in the development of your project.
You will need good project management in order to communicate your ambitions and workplan, reassure buyers and investors, and ensure that your project runs on schedule, on budget and delivers its core outcomes and outputs.