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<p>Collaborations between universities and third-sector organizations are increasingly promoted in public health research, yet the organizational and institutional conditions shaping their functioning remain underexplored. This study examines the BLOSSOM project, a university–third sector research partnership developed in Southern Italy, through a qualitative interpretive case study of a single collaborative initiative. Data were collected via document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key partnership actors and analyzed using hybrid inductive–deductive thematic coding. Findings show that the partnership was sustained by progressive trust-building, flexible governance arrangements, and reciprocal learning across academic, clinical, and community domains. The community foundation emerged as a central intermediary infrastructure, mediating institutional logics and supporting operational coordination. At the same time, structural challenges, particularly the rigidity of university financial procedures and the misalignment of administrative timelines and resource allocation across partners, were identified as key constraints affecting the operational viability of the collaboration. By shifting attention from normative principles of participation to the concrete governance and administrative conditions that enable collaborative practice, this case study contributes to debates on equity-oriented research partnerships and cross-sector governance. The findings highlight the importance of investing in the organizational and administrative capacity of third-sector actors and of aligning institutional infrastructures to support participatory public health research. University–third sector collaborations should therefore be understood not merely as relational arrangements, but as institutional configurations requiring deliberate governance and structural support, including flexible procurement frameworks, investment in third-sector administrative capacity, and formal recognition of intermediary governance roles, to remain viable and sustainable.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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University and third sector collaboration in public health research analysis of the BLOSSOM project

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月20日

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  • Camilla Stellato,
  • Giuseppe De Stefano,
  • Carlo Buonerba,
  • Lucia Maiuro,
  • Giuseppe Di Lorenzo,
  • Elena Sorrentino

摘要

Collaborations between universities and third-sector organizations are increasingly promoted in public health research, yet the organizational and institutional conditions shaping their functioning remain underexplored. This study examines the BLOSSOM project, a university–third sector research partnership developed in Southern Italy, through a qualitative interpretive case study of a single collaborative initiative. Data were collected via document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key partnership actors and analyzed using hybrid inductive–deductive thematic coding. Findings show that the partnership was sustained by progressive trust-building, flexible governance arrangements, and reciprocal learning across academic, clinical, and community domains. The community foundation emerged as a central intermediary infrastructure, mediating institutional logics and supporting operational coordination. At the same time, structural challenges, particularly the rigidity of university financial procedures and the misalignment of administrative timelines and resource allocation across partners, were identified as key constraints affecting the operational viability of the collaboration. By shifting attention from normative principles of participation to the concrete governance and administrative conditions that enable collaborative practice, this case study contributes to debates on equity-oriented research partnerships and cross-sector governance. The findings highlight the importance of investing in the organizational and administrative capacity of third-sector actors and of aligning institutional infrastructures to support participatory public health research. University–third sector collaborations should therefore be understood not merely as relational arrangements, but as institutional configurations requiring deliberate governance and structural support, including flexible procurement frameworks, investment in third-sector administrative capacity, and formal recognition of intermediary governance roles, to remain viable and sustainable.

Graphical Abstract