Partnerships are an effective tool that can harness the strengths, skills and resources of its members to achieve a common goal.  By participating in partnerships organisations can accrue both economic and social benefits including:

• The opportunity to share and learn from the experiences of others regions facing similar problems to enable the transfer of tangible benefits to each region
  
• The development of interpersonal relationships between people of different cultures.
  
• Partnerhsips can inject a new lease of life into group members and the communities within which they are based leading to the development of new activities and programmes.

Developing and implementing trans-national projects can be a lengthy and costly exercise in terms of both time and financial commitments. Problems can arise during the formation and development of a partnership.  There are a number of factors which can result in a potential partnership not getting off the ground or, if formed, becoming difficult to manage.  Potential pitfalls include:

• Perceptions and/or misconceptions of the people and culture in another region
  
• In border regions, especially where there has been a history of civil unrest, fear of the perceived loss of local identity, particularly in a cross-border context, is a recurring problem.  Many potential partnerships can fail to materialise because the development of a partnerhips can be associated with a dilution of own culture. 
• Distance may mean meetings may be hard to organise, time consuming and can prove costly.
  
• There can be differences between how respective partners conduct their business as well as differences within the administrative and legal structures within which they operate
• Creating a cross-border legal entity, receiving funding in different currencies, recruitment procedures etc, are all hurdles that have to be overcome.

Any partnership relies upon trust, tolerance and tenacity.  While participation in a trans-national or cross-border project can be time consuming it can be more rewarding than any other type of project. 

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