Table 3.

Key elements of cross-sector partnerships that build capacity at the practitioner, organisational, and partnership levels

Capacity Building Level	Key elements of cross-sector partnerships	Explanation of how capacity is build by the key element at the given level
Practitioner	Process evaluation	Assessment of activities during and at the end of the project to see where improvements can be made.
	Trust	Confidence in abilities and intentions of partners. Higher trust leads to more knowledge and skill sharing.
	Period of collaboration-time	Duration of partnerships. Trust needs time to be developed. In a good partnership more skills and knowledge will be shared as time goes by and trust increases.
	Personal contact	Personal relationship between people of different organisations. Open attitude and commitment to the partnership improve the personal contact, trust and knowledge sharing.
	Coordination	Clarity of role, task, and expected input from partners increases accountability, trust and knowledge sharing among partners
	External focus	Reaching own organisations goals by engaging in activities of other partners multiplies trust and knowledge sharing
Organisational	Mutuality	Interdependence between the partners. Greater needs to collaborate leads to greater willingness to share resources.
	Policy support	Extent to which policy supports the organisation and allocates financial resources.
	Support of partners	Partners who indicate added value of the partnership create legitimacy and positively influence policy makers.
	Metrics for success	Objective results of relationships create legitimacy and positively influence the policy makers.
Partnership	Partner complementarity and fit	Composition of network partners with different expertise, so complementary skills and knowledge can be shared.
	Diversity of activities	Multiple activities create added value for a wide variety of partners and extends the network
	Period of collaboration-time	Duration of partnership gives time to obtain results and convince potential partners of the added value of a relationship.