by Martin B. Carstensen and Eva Sørensen
In a recent article published in Policy & Politics, Martin B. Carstensen and Eva Sørensen explore how collaborative governance can be understood as a series of fluid, adaptive interactions—rather than as a stable, coherent and linear process. Drawing on bricolage theory and theories of robust governance, they propose a new way of thinking about how partnerships form, evolve, and sustain themselves in dynamic, unpredictable settings.
Collaboration tends to be messier than theories suggest
Collaborative governance is often messier than theory allows. Projects shift, participants come and go, goals evolve, and the structure of the collaboration itself may fragment and recombine. While existing research acknowledges this, it typically lacks a conceptual language for capturing the fluidity involved.
Carstensen and Sørensen suggest two conceptual resources that can fill this gap. Bricolage refers to how actors make do with what’s available—skills, relationships, tools—by creatively repurposing them to solve the problems that emerge in concrete situations. Robust governance, meanwhile, focuses on a system’s capacity to adapt and innovate itself to maintain core functions during disruption.
Bringing these ideas together, the authors argue that collaboration can be fruitfully studied as a series of “tangled moments of bricolage”—episodes of creative, situated problem-solving that are loosely linked over time.
The four dynamics of adaptive collaboration
To help scholars and practitioners better understand the evolving nature of collaboration, the article outlines four key dimensions that are often more variable than traditional models suggest:
- Actor composition – Collaborations often involve changing participants. As challenges shift, so do the people involved in solving them.
- Purpose – Shared goals are not always present. Actors may be motivated by overlapping but distinct aims, held together by flexible narratives and pragmatic interests.
- Structure – Collaborations are rarely unitary. They often consist of distributed sub-projects, loosely coordinated through shared storylines and adaptive leadership.
- Outcomes – What emerges from collaboration is frequently heterogeneous and sometimes surprising—what matters is that the outcomes “hold” rather than fit a preconceived plan.
An illustrative case: Biochar innovation in Denmark
The authors draw on a detailed case study of a Danish green technology initiative (SkyClean Project) to show how these concepts work in practice. The project, aimed at producing biochar to sequester CO₂, evolved through multiple phases, shifting leadership, diverse motivations, and loosely coupled activities. Despite lacking a unified structure or single purpose, the collaboration persisted—driven by adaptive responses to problems, repurposing of resources, and a shared sense of momentum.
Implications for theory and practice
This article calls on scholars to better account for the messiness and improvisation at the heart of collaborative governance. For practitioners, it provides a more realistic and hopeful model: successful collaboration doesn’t always require consensus or coherence—sometimes, resilience lies in flexibility and heterogeneity.
By foregrounding bricolage and robustness, Carstensen and Sørensen offer a compelling framework for analysing and supporting governance efforts in complex, shifting environments.
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You can read the original research in Policy & Politics at
Carstensen, M. B., and Sørensen, E. (2025). Using bricolage and robustness theory to explain the dynamism of collaborative governance. Policy & Politics 53, 2, 315-337, available from: < https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000062>
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Chen, A. L., and Hustad, O. (2025). Metagoverning collaborative networks: a cumulative power perspective. Policy & Politics 53, 2, 249-272, available from: < https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000040>
Cordoncillo Acosta, C., and Borrell-Porta, M. (2025). Fostering innovation through collaboration: a comparison of collaborative approaches to policy design. Policy & Politics (published online ahead of print 2025), available from: < https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000058>
Sørensen, E., and Warren, M. E. (2025). Developing a theory of robust democracy. Policy & Politics 53, 1, 2-21, available from: < https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000050>
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