Sustainability of collaborations is often dependent on policies and practices in place. Much of what has already been presented has to do with environmental capital. The ecology can promote collaborations or it can discourage them. An environment where there is connectedness at all levels, a history of working together, a supportive Political Climate, and Policies, Laws and Regulations that encourage cooperativeness, increases the probability of a successful collaboration. In kind capital has to do with what each of the collaboration members and their organizations contribute to the collaboration, such as meeting rooms, supplies, and computers.
Financial capital involves monetary resources, which are often assumed to be most important.
Note, however, that collaborations that cooperate only to seek funding are more likely to fail than collaborations that form as comprehensive community wide responses to a problem. That emphasis shifts into a vision. Human capital is the most important asset in a collaboration. The investment of people s time, expertise and energy into a collaboration is an essential contribution to achieving the collaboration s shared vision. Margaret Mead once said, Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.