What holds an alliance together?

Next week I'll be chairing a panel at The Natural History Consortium’s Communicate 2026 Conference exploring multi-partner alliances and the role they play in creating change for nature. It's a subject I've spent much of my career close to.

Dr Hannah Collins chairing a panel discussion at Communicate 2025 on New Narratives for Nature with Ayesha Tandon, Genevieve Margrett and Beth Collier.

Over the years I've convened researchers, policymakers, businesses, charities and practitioners around challenges spanning energy, food, water, natural capital and environmental evidence. More recently, through Hannah Collins Unlimited, I've been supporting partnerships focused on woodland recovery, sustainability leadership, community-led research and strengthening the evidence base for nature.

All different topics, with different people working in different contexts, but many of the same questions keep surfacing:

·         How do we bring people together around shared challenges?

·         How do we maintain momentum when everyone is busy?

·         How do we create enough alignment to move forward without demanding complete agreement?

Anyone who has worked in a large alliance knows how quickly energy can become consumed by coordination. The alliances that seem to thrive are rarely the ones trying to tackle every challenge at once. They're the ones that have done the harder work of deciding what matters most together: Shared priorities create focus, and that in turn creates momentum.

Woodland restoration stakeholders at a workshop facilitated by Dr Hannah Collins.

I believe one of the most powerful things an alliance can do is agree where it can genuinely make a difference, and put its collective energy there. Without that focus, even the best intentions risk disappearing into the noise. This feels particularly relevant to those of us working on nature, climate and people. The challenges are enormous and the need is urgent and undeniable. The possible interventions are endless, and no alliance or organisation can hold all of it.

I've been reflecting recently on what nature itself might teach us about this: In healthy

ecosystems, countless species occupy different niches. They don't compete to become the same thing. They contribute in different ways to the health of the whole system: a woodland doesn't need every tree to be identical, a reef doesn't thrive because one species dominates all others, strength comes through diversity, interdependence and connection.

Artist's impression of the mycorrhizal fungal networks that connect trees.

Ecosystems function because of the relationships between coexisting species and the same is true for alliances. Over the years I've learnt that trust is the real infrastructure beneath successful collaboration. It allows people to navigate disagreement, share uncertainty and remain committed when progress feels slow.

Trust grows through communication, but it is often accelerated through time spent together. In a world of online meetings and overflowing calendars, I still don't think we've found a substitute for bringing people into the same room. A day spent thinking together can unlock a level of understanding that takes months to build remotely.

Curiosity matters too. The strongest alliances I've seen are full of people who are willing to learn from one another. Rather than assuming they already have the answer, they stay interested in different perspectives, experiences and ways of approaching a problem.

In movements for nature, climate and people, scientists, communicators, businesses, communities, campaigners, established organisations and emerging voices, leaders and enablers are all part of the ecosystem for change.

Celebrating the impact of environmental science and scientists across the UK in the Houses of Parliament

The more I work in this field, the less interested I become in questions of who owns an issue and the more interested I become in how we help one another advance it. Being a good citizen of the movement matters; being aware of and advocating for one another. Creating opportunities for others to contribute, and celebrating one another's successes all matters.

One of the strongest lessons I’ve learned through engaging extensively with members of the public on environmental challenges over the last 12 years, is how overtly they acknowledge the power of hope. This is not about pretending the challenges are smaller than they are, but creating space for action. Conversations move to the next level when people are invited to imagine what is possible, rather than being reminded only of what is broken. I’ve found hope opens doors, invites participation and helps people see themselves in the story.

Perhaps hope is important in alliances for the same reason it is important in public engagement: people are far more likely to contribute when they can see a meaningful role for themselves in creating the future.

I believe successful alliances need that too. When organisations come together, they rarely start from exactly the same place; they bring different histories, priorities, cultures and perspectives. What’s important is remembering that most people have arrived because they care. They are trying, in their own way, to contribute something positive for nature, climate and people.

As I prepare for next week's panel, I'm reflecting that alliances don't hold together because everyone agrees. They hold together because people choose to trust one another, stay curious, focus on what matters, and keep moving towards a shared goal.

There is a whole planet's worth of work to do. The challenge isn't a competition between species, organisations or agendas. It's making sure we recognise that we're part of the same ecosystem.

When we do, hope grows. Collaboration becomes easier. And the possibility of meaningful change grows with it.