30 Working with partners

It’s likely that you’ll find it beneficial to collaborate with partners to co-design and stage your Jam event. These partners may include:

• another higher education institution,
• industry partners,
• local communities or other groups.

Your first step should be to identify a partner (or partners) and build a relationship of trust with them. The University of Leeds has relationships with a range of strategic partners, targeting partners with which it would like to develop its relationships further. However, other groups within the University can also assist in partner identification e.g. the Global Opportunities team.

When you seek to collaborate with partners, you should proceed on principles of equitable and inclusive collaboration. Engage in open and transparent conversations with your potential partner(s) and provide accurate information about possible collaboration.

You should discuss the objectives and benefits of the partnership at the beginning of the collaboration, distributing responsibilities equitably between everyone involved in the Jam. It’s important to be flexible and responsive in your approach so that you can shape the Jam together. You should base the collaboration on the principles of equity, trust and reciprocity.

Ensure that there is clarity about the anticipated engagement of partners in terms of time they need to dedicate to the project, and seek an arrangement that recompenses your partner’s time and efforts. Funding is a crucial component of this and should be appropriate to cover what the partner invests in the project. For example, this may include requirements relating to:

• travel,
• materials,
• support for specific circumstances e.g. caring responsibilities.

If the partnership involves community organisations, there should be reimbursement for the time staff will invest in the project. This is also the case for co-development of the project aims, objectives and outcomes so that they can be accessible to the partners and their communities.

Partnerships may need time to develop and mature into something beneficial for everyone involved. As such, organising a Jam may require commitment and relationship building far in advance of the event. You should also consider the time required for sustained collaboration after the event.

When engaging in a partnership it’s critical to consult your legal team for help and advice. This will help you form appropriate collaborations by following institutional processes and procedures. You may need to develop agreement documents that state clearly the responsibilities of each partner. Consult the guidance on strategic partnerships within the University of Leeds.

When planning your event, you can use the template below to communicate key information with partners. Add your content in the right-hand column.

Consider how your partner would like to contribute or share a potential challenge/idea to articulate a learning scenario as part of the Jam. You can gain insights into their thoughts about a possible future collaboration beyond the Jam, by asking them to respond to the questions in the following template. Add your content in the right-hand column.

Refer to Appendix 1: Social Justice Jam: Spaces for Change, June 2024 for an example communication.