In 2009, ABCG held a session on Lessons Learned from NGO Consortia during WWF-US’s Learning Week. The session sought to understand the successes and challenges of conservation alliances. Presentations will be made by place-based coalitions and thematic consortia (see list below). Participants learned how and why various coalitions are formed, their structure and participants, decision-making, costs, achievements, struggles, and how and when to evolve or end these partnerships.

Presentations included:

• ABCG’s Lessons Learned on NGO consortiums, Nancy Gelman, ABCG
• CARPE consortium – lessons learned, Richard Carroll, WWF-US
• Coral Triangle Lessons Learned, Kate Newman, WWF-US (presentation not available)
• PHE Consortium Lessons Learned, Jason Bremner, Population Reference Bureau
• BCTF Lessons Learned, Heather E. Eves, Bushmeat Crisis Task Force

On 30 April 2004, a session entitled, Working Together: The Blossoming of New Thematic NGO Collaborations was organized by the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) and the Community Conservation Coalition (CCC) at Conservation Internationals 2004 Annual Meeting. The session sought to better understand why organizations form conservation alliances, what elements contribute to success, the challenges to cooperatively addressing an issue, and how and when to evolve or end a partnership. Five non-governmental organization (NGO) collaborations shared their experiences: