Compact - My Municipality Local Government Collaboration Model

The COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model is a catalytic tool developed by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) to foster collaboration among municipal administrations, councillors, and the local community. The model employs a five-step process—Purpose, Making Sense of the Challenge, Vision and Hope, Implementing and Adapting, and Reflection and Learning—to move beyond traditional problem-solving. The model was piloted in 2025 in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality (focusing on the Pearston water crisis) and the Newcastle Local Municipality (focusing on tuckshop regulation and local economic development). A subsequent train-the-trainer workshop was held in August 2025 in Gauteng to refine facilitation materials and guide representatives from SALGA, PARI, and the pilot municipalities.

• The COMPACT model defines collaboration as the pooling of skills, knowledge, and resources from different stakeholders to create innovative solutions for common challenges that cannot be solved individually.
• The collaboration process consists of five specific steps: identifying the purpose, developing a systemic understanding of the challenge, creating a shared vision and agenda, co-creating adaptive leadership and implementation principles, and reflecting on learning to update the agenda.
• The model was piloted in two South African municipalities in 2025: the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, which addressed the water crisis in Pearston (April 22-23), and the Newcastle Local Municipality in KZN, which addressed tuckshop regulation and local economic development in Madadeni (May 29-30).
• A train-the-trainer workshop took place from August 5-7, 2025, in Gauteng to refine the facilitation guide and materials, attended by representatives from SALGA, PARI, and the pilot municipalities.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (n.d.). Compact - My Municipality Local Government Collaboration Model. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COMPACT-Factsheet-6-v2.pdf

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. Compact - My Municipality Local Government Collaboration Model. n.d. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COMPACT-Factsheet-6-v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=Compact - My Municipality Local Government Collaboration Model |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COMPACT-Factsheet-6-v2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{publicaffairsresearchinstitutendcompact, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{Compact - My Municipality Local Government Collaboration Model}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COMPACT-Factsheet-6-v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }