Editorial – Mastering the art of collaboration – Reflections and future directions

In June of this year the Australian Health Promotion Association held its 19th national conference in Melbourne on partnership practice, titled ‘Walking the Talk Together’. The conference afforded delegates the opportunity to spend dedicated time to critically think through the mechanics of this often complex phenomenon and ways to strategically develop synergy within and between organisations more effectively. More than 560 delegates engaged in three days of presentations, workshops and discussions which provided a useful snapshot of our current thinking in this discipline. The conference highlighted that there is still room for us to shift our thinking. We must move beyond the rudimentary stages of ‘who’ we are working with and start to develop strategic ways around ‘how’ we might achieve better practice. To do this, we need to start understanding the technical foundations of collaboration essential to the success of health promotion practice.