2026 THEME: RETHINKING PARTNERSHIPS IN PRACTICE

THE COLLABORATIVE UNLEARNING LABS

 The Collaborative Unlearning Labs are structured, facilitated spaces that bring together practitioners from across the development system to reflect on how development is experienced and practiced in real contexts.

The Labs are designed as a space for.

1.      Reflection on lived experience

2.      Dialogue across different roles and perspectives

3.      Examination of assumptions that shape practice

2026 THEME: RETHINKING PARTNERSHIPS IN PRACTICE

For this calendar year, the Collaborative Unlearning Labs (CULs) will be anchored on the theme of partnerships and how they work in practice.

At the center of this exploration is one of the most influential relationships in sustainable development: the partnership between international NGOs (INGOs), NGOs, and community-based organisations (CBOs).

 Why This Theme?

INGOs, NGOs, and CBOs sit at critical points within the development system.

INGOs operate as intermediaries, shaping flows of funding, influencing donor priorities, and managing relationships through sub-granting mechanisms. They often hold significant influence both upward (with funders) and downward (with local partners).

CBOs, on the other hand, are rooted in communities. They play a central role in driving local engagement, shaping implementation, and influencing outcomes at the grassroots level, while also interacting with local government systems.

Both actors influence development systems, albeit at different levels. Yet the nature of their partnership often determines whether development efforts are sustained, locally owned, and meaningful.

Strategic Anchoring for Community Organizations

Many community-based organizations have strong grassroots legitimacy but limited access to strategic tools that strengthen long-term autonomy.

The lab supports CBOs to

1.      strengthen organizational strategy and positioning,

2.      narrative power and storytelling,

3.      partnerships, networks, and long-term sustainability

The goal is to help CBOs move from project implementers to strategic community institutions

The Gap Between Commitment and Practice

Over the past decade, localization has gained significant traction in global development discourse.

·       An estimated 65% of INGOs report having localisation strategies

·       Yet only 11% of cross-border philanthropic funding reaches CBOs directly(OECD)

This reveals a persistent gap between stated commitment and practice.

Funding continues to flow primarily through INGOs and large intermediaries, often justified by concerns around risk, compliance, and fiduciary accountability. While these concerns are valid, they also reinforce existing structures where INGOs remain central actors, often as gatekeepers of resources and decision-making.

At the same time, research shows that many INGOs face institutional incentives to maintain these intermediary roles, as shifting power and resources more directly to local actors would fundamentally alter their operating models.

As a result, local actors are often positioned as implementers rather than equal partners, decision-making remains uneven, and accountability flows are largely upward.

The challenge is not only about where funding goes, but also about: Power - who makes decisions, trust - who is considered capable or credible, and knowledge- whose perspectives shape programmes and define success.

These dynamics form an epistemic hierarchy that influences who receives resources, who defines problems and solutions, and what counts as valid evidence

This raises a critical question: Are INGOs working with local partners or simply working through them?

Practice pillars

The labs under this year’s theme will focus on four interconnected areas shaping how partnerships are experienced, negotiated, and transformed in practice

1. mutual accountability

2. trust-based partnerships

3. shared power

4. transparency

What We Hope to Achieve

Through this year’s focus on partnerships, the labs aim to:

1.   Deepen understanding of how INGO–CBO relationships function in practice

2. Surface the tensions and trade-offs that shape these partnerships

3. Challenge assumptions that reinforce unequal dynamics

4. Create space for more equitable, trust-based, and mutually accountable relationships

5. Contribute to a broader shift from rhetorical localisation to lived practice

What Success Looks Like

For the Collaborative Unlearning Labs, success is not defined by immediate structural change, but by meaningful shifts in how practitioners see and engage with their work.

We will consider this work impactful if:

• Participants develop a more nuanced understanding of how partnerships function beyond formal structures

•   Practitioners begin to question and reflect on their own roles within existing systems

• Conversations around power, trust, and accountability become more open and grounded in real experience

• Small but tangible shifts emerge in how partnerships are approached, whether in decision-making, communication, or resource-sharing

• A community of practitioners begins to form around shared inquiry and ongoing reflection

  Success to us is about creating the conditions for change, where different ways of practicing partnership become possible, even within existing constraints.

Ultimately, we seek to contribute to a shift in development practice towards:

Solidarity rather than charity

Partnership rather than patronage

Community leadership rather than external control