Fostering interorganizational collaborative capacity for a climate resilient health system

Drs. Zidulka and Kajzer Mitchell received a BC Ministry of Health Institutional Grant to identify best practices for building a climate resilient health system using the WHO Operational Framework.

This research will identify best practices for fostering interorganizational and cross-sectoral collaboration for the purpose of fostering climate resilience within the BC health system for the BC Ministry of Health. The WHO Operational Framework for Building Climate Resilient Health Systems, which the BC Ministry of Health is using as a reference, has stressed the need for health organizations to work collaboratively to achieve resilience. However, interorganizational collaboration has been broadly recognized as difficult to achieve and requires the development of collaborative capacity at the individual, organizational, and system levels.
This research will build on the existing foundational knowledge developed by scholars of public sector interorganizational collaboration and the desktop jurisdictional scan commissioned by the BC Ministry of Health, which reviewed the steps already taken by multiple jurisdictions in Canada and internationally to foster climate resilient health systems. Through interviews with key informants and a knowledge exchange event this research will deepen understanding of what would be needed to strengthen the BC health system’s collaborative capacity and thus better meet the goals outlined in the WHO Operational Framework.