Building Strong International Partnerships: Trainers Presentation Slides

Authors: Michal Klembara & Mykhailo Glubokyi

The slide deck used by Michal Klembara and Mykhailo Glubokyi during ZMINA:Resilience Capacity Building Webinar #2: Building Strong International Partnerships.

The presentation moves through the full thematic arc of the session: the difference between random project-based partnerships and strategic long-term ones, and why the distinction matters for both project quality and evaluation scores; a practical guide to finding partners quickly through specific platforms, registries, and sector networks; a breakdown of partner roles (coordinator, co-applicant, associated partner, subcontractor) with their respective responsibilities and risks; red flags to identify before committing to a collaboration; the components of a credible and functional partnership structure, including a Memorandum of Cooperation; and the longer-term dimensions of partnership — governance, communication protocols, risk management, and financial flows between organisations.

A substantial section is devoted to network strategy: which networks to join by organisational type and thematic focus, how to behave at conferences and sector events to build relationships rather than just collect contacts, and a reference table of key European networks relevant to cultural organisations. The slides also address first contact — how to approach a new potential partner — and include a practical elevator pitch exercise.

The slides are the primary visual reference for the session and are best used alongside the video recording. The presentation is grounded throughout in the trainers' own nine-year collaboration between Malý Berlín and IZOLYATSIA, used as a live case study. The extracted lessons from that timeline — starting small, compounding trust, escalating commitment gradually — are best understood alongside the video, where Michal and Mykhailo walk through them in conversation.