Public-private partnerships: a new collaborative response to challenges facing society

“Public-private collaboration encourages opportunities for co-operation in response to different social challenges, and also enables us to advance and be more competitive, all pursuant to the sustainable development goals in the UN 2030 Agenda” explained Ana Sáinz, director general of Fundación SERES during the webinar “Alianzas público-privadas con impacto social” in the framework of the Esade - Fundación SERES series of conferences. “This is why we are committed to collaborative projects and aim to make them an integral part of business strategy and thus give companies a competitive edge. We believe that alliances are a new type of action in response to an increasingly complex society that can only be dealt with by creating innovative solutions in keeping with the constant changes and challenges facing society, particularly after the impact of the pandemic” said Ana Sáinz.

According to Ignasi Carreras, professor and director of the NGO management programmes run by the Esade Institute of Social Innovation, “alliances are the most interesting sort of collaboration because they call for commitment from those involved and enable solution-specific alliances, sales alliances and joint ventures.” In this respect, the professor listed the main factors for success in alliances: “The first thing is to choose the right partners, engender trust, develop the vision and strategy of the alliance, satisfy mutual expectations and those of stakeholders, and finally, boost the alliance to improve and develop the collaboration portfolio”, added Ignasi Carreras.

Experience and lessons learnt in public-private partnerships

Google works with institutions and governments at the local, European and global levels, building long-term relationships. Lirios Conca, Government Affairs Public Policy & Country Operations Manager for Spain at Google, emphasised Google’s collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in projects “such as the creation of the COVID-19 website providing true information from the authorities about prevention, and the 'Impulso Digital' platform for the development of companies and professionals”. She also mentioned ‘Certificados Profesionales’, a programme in conjunction with Fundae, SEPE, the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, and local NGOs, offering 5,000 scholarships for online training in information technology support. As regards essential learning, Lirios Conca also said that “alliances involving complementary skills and long-term public-private partnerships can forge social relationships and finally engender trust”.

María Paz Lagares, head of employment at Seville City Hall, focused on ‘Sevilla Integra’, a municipal job scheme designed to help jobseekers along the road from their first advisory session to finding employment. She also mentioned the public-private projects ‘Cartuja Canal’ and ‘Barrios Inteligentes’. “The multiplier effect that investment has on social considerations and budgets; the project’s ability to adapt in response to the pandemic; and enhanced lines of action with joint planning” are the three focal points that María Paz Lagares considers to be essential for continuing to encourage and develop public-private partnerships.

Fundación Randstad collaborates with companies, workers, social entities, and public authorities with the mission of achieving equal employment opportunities for disabled persons by raising awareness, training, and helping them find work. María Viver, the general director of Fundación Randstad, stated that “our job is to find employment for the most vulnerable. This social mission in itself is a challenge that we cannot tackle alone. This is why we created the collaborative social ecosystem to deal with it”. María Viver shone a spotlight on the main projects carried out by the foundation, such as the Proyecto de alfabetización digital en tiempos de COVID-19 in conjunction with the Canary Islands Government, the increase in employability thanks to Certificados de profesionalidad in the Region of Valencia, and on-line training to empower disabled persons in collaboration with the Government of Andalusia. One of the lessons she learned was that “a framework of action based on trust must be established, and that this requires the creation of communication channels to enable an on-going dialogue in which difficulties and challenges can be expressed, and input can be conveyed to the authorities so that they can adapt the protocols of action with flexibility and achieve the common aim. It is very important to monitor and dimension the projects”, concluded María Viver.