The meeting of all German network partners in the Health Partnerships – Global funding programme provided a platform for sharing lessons learned and for communicating key principles and approaches for implementation. 48 German project partners from 11 federal states met in Bonn for the two-day workshop.

In small regional and thematic groups participants gained fresh ideas for their work through peer-to-peer exchange. The topics discussed ranged from customs and import regulations for medicines, to gender equality in projects, to challenges encountered when dealing with local authorities. Participants from younger partnerships were thus able to profit from the expertise of project partners with long-standing partnerships.

The offer-&-seek board also gave participants an opportunity to specify areas in which they had gained experience or, conversely, were looking for experienced exchange partners.

One highlight of the meeting was a group experiment to explore typical challenges in a hospital partnership. In this exercise, participants were able to learn how to look at things from other people’s perspectives. Key topics discussed afterwards were: How can peer-to-peer cooperation work? What do we need in order to adapt projects to the local context? And how can we achieve our goal of sustainability?

The tips and tricks for project management and administration passed on at the workshop will strengthen the partners in their everyday project routines. Participants also got answers to particular questions they had concerning the administration and financial management of hospital partnership projects.