Policies may be made in heaven but sustainable partnerships are borne, nurtured and maintained through good relationships between the partners

The charter and mission of the University of Western Sydney (UWS) is to achieve excellence through scholarship, teaching, learning, research and service. Although the target audience includes international communities,there is a strong regional emphasis and a particular focus on the people of Greater Western Sydney. Similarly, the strategic direction for Penrith City Council (PCC) encourages links with educational providers in the immediate Local Government Area. However, whilst the imprimatur from the upper echelons of power in both institutions provides strategic direction, partnerships are developed, nurtured and sustained by the researchers and practitioners in middle management. The UWS Cooperative Programs Unit mentors such partnerships. This paper describes its role in connecting PCC with UWS research staff and students in a sustained relationship that began a decade ago and has involved over 60 students undertaking a diverse range of research projects for PCC. As a case study we will use environmental projects, undertaken by four Honours students annually, to exemplify the PCC and UWS partnership.The characteristics of the partnership are explored to identify the reasons for its development into a trusted, resourced, sustainable, and mutually beneficial, relationship. The personalities of the protagonists, the quality systems developed to ensure that the goals of the parties (PCC, UWS and students) are met and the measures taken to sustain the partnership will be discussed. The UWS and PCC relationship will be compared with that of other universities and their local Councils, as evident in contemporary literature. The relationship’s benefits are described with emphasis on its multiplier effect. There is reference to other relationships which co-exist between UWS and PCC (invariably developed by middle management staff from both organisations) which create synergies and generate additional ventures for both parties, with other organisations or authorities and educational institutions - the evidence of thriving, sustainable partnerships.