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Building International Collaborative Capacity: Contributions of Community Psychologists to a European Network
Author(s) -
García-Ramírez Manuel,
Paloma Virginia,
Suarez-Balcazar Yolanda,
Balcazar Fabricio
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/s10464-009-9247-7
Subject(s) - european union , capacity building , process (computing) , multinational corporation , collaborative network , public relations , political science , health psychology , economic growth , knowledge management , business , public health , medicine , computer science , economics , international trade , nursing , law , operating system
Europe is in the process of building a more participative, just, and inclusive European Union. The European Social Fund , which is an initiative developed to actively promote multinational partnerships that address pressing social issues, is a good example of the European transformation. This article describes the steps taken to develop and evaluate the activities of an international network promoting collaborative capacity among regional partners involved in the prevention of labor discrimination toward immigrants in three European countries—Spain, Belgium, and Italy. An international team of community psychologists proposed an empowering approach to assess the collaborative capacity of the network. This approach consisted of three steps: (1) establishing a collaborative relationship among partners, (2) building collaborative capacity, and (3) evaluating the collaborative capacity of the network. We conclude with lessons learned from the process and provide recommendations for addressing the challenges inherent in international collaboration processes.