Why collaboration matters
In rural areas, it is difficult to meet all local needs. Long distances, limited resources, and small populations make it challenging for both public services and markets to respond to everything communities need.
This is where collaboration becomes essential. When municipalities, social enterprises, and community actors work together, they bring complementary strengths by combining public responsibility, local knowledge, and entrepreneurial initiative. Together, they can create solutions that are more flexible, more responsive, and better rooted in the realities of place.
Why collaborate with social enterprises?
Social enterprises are valuable partners for municipalities and public actors in rural areas. They combine social purpose with entrepreneurial approaches and are often deeply rooted in their communities. Working with them helps public authorities respond more effectively to local needs and complex challenges. They help fill gaps, mobilise local resources, and develop services that reflect the needs and priorities of the people who live there.
Collaboration with social enterprises creates value across several dimensions:
Social
- Better services: More flexible, personalised, and locally adapted solutions
- Stronger inclusion: Improved access to services and better reach to underserved groups
- Builds trust through community-rooted approaches and strengthens local engagement
Economic
- Local economic benefits: Job creation and support for local initiatives
- Strengthens local economies and community-based entrepreneurship
- Can make service delivery more flexible and cost-effective
Governance
- New ways of working: Opportunities for experimentation, innovation, and learning
- More inclusive governance: Greater community involvement in shaping services and decisions
- Supports more collaborative and adaptable public management
Environmental
- Sustainable development: Locally driven solutions that support long-term social, economic, and environmental resilience
- Encourages responsible use of local resources and place-based sustainability
For municipalities, this is not just about delivering services differently—it is about working with partners who help build stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient communities.
How collaboration is organised?
Collaboration takes different forms depending on local context, needs, and capacities. It may begin from community initiatives, municipal action, or joint problem recognition. Over time, collaboration often develops from informal cooperation into more structured partnerships.
There is no single way to organise collaboration. Each approach shapes how people work together, how decisions are made, and what results can be achieved.
Here are four common collaboration models and what they typically look like in practice:
| Model | How it works? | Municipality role | Community role | What it leads to? |
| Contract-based service delivery | Contracts, clear roles, legal accountability | Commissioner, funder, regulator | Service provider | Stable, predictable services |
| Community-based service provision | Informal, trust-based cooperation | Supporter and integrator | Owner/operator | Strong local ownership and resilience |
| Co-creation of services | Shared decisions and responsibility | Strategic partner | Co-creator | Innovative, tailored solutions |
| Network-based cooperation | Flexible cooperation and negotiation | Partner / co-financer | Facilitator | Diverse, adaptable services |
In practice, these approaches are often combined, and no single logic consistently outperforms the others. Instead, effectiveness depends on how well a given logic aligns with:
- the nature of the local need,
- community capacity,
- institutional constraints, and the form of public value being pursued, such as service accessibility, economic resilience, or community welfare.
Conditions for successful collaboration
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for successful collaboration. However, experience shows that certain conditions make collaboration more effective and sustainable.
You can use this checklist as a practical tool to reflect on your current approach and identify areas for improvement:
🤝 Relationships
☐ Trust and mutual respect between all partners
☐ Long-term commitment to collaboration from both municipality and community
☐ Continuity of collaboration through relationships that are actively maintained and developed over time
🎯 Shared direction
☐ Clear and aligned goals
☐ Shared ownership of decisions and outcomes
🧩 Structures and support
☐ Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each actor
☐ Flexible ways of working that allow adaptation
☐ Stable and supportive funding and policy frameworks
☐ Coordination mechanisms that link different actors
🌍 Local understanding and capacity
☐ Strong understanding of local needs and context
☐ Recognition of community strengths and resources
☐ Willingness to combine different types of knowledge and approaches
🏛️ Role of the municipality
☐ Municipality acts as facilitator, partner, or enabler (not only service provider)
☐ Openness to community-led and locally grounded solutions
If most of these boxes are ticked, collaboration is more likely to lead to stronger and more responsive services, more resilient communities and sustainable rural development.
Want to explore these topics in more detail? See the full report (PDF)
