Creating the Let's Culture Together Partner Canvas
Creating the Let's Culture Together Partner Canvas

Write to Accomplish!

The Tandem Europe participants behind Let’s Culture Together are Cristiana Olteanu (Biblioteca Judeteana Antim Ivireanul Valcea - Ramnicu Valcea, Romania) and Pierluigi Vaccaneo (Associazione Culturale Twitteratura - Milan, Italy).The following video shows their programme is an excellent example of how to use the Tandem Method Partner Canvas, a tool used by all participants throughout their collaboration. It helps visualise the whole process as it develops all aspects of a partnership. Learn more about how the Partner Canvas works and its impact on this collaboration below.

Tandem Methods-in-Action

The Partner Canvas is one of the most important methods every Tandem participant uses to develop their collaboration. It isn’t only about the project itself, but about the context in which the participants work. This method is based on finding answers to the four big questions Who, How, Why and What. Each Tandem partner brainstorms and writes down their answers to these questions.

Tandem Partner Canvas
Tandem Partner Canvas

Who refers to everyone involved in the project, from organisers to participants. Listing their expectations and their contributions allows for a detailed understanding of who the stakeholders are.

Answering the question How is where partners can flesh out the project they are working on, this is where the abstract idea becomes a definite plan.

Why is the reason for the whole collaboration. Tandem participants share their goals, their ambitions. This leads to having better insights on what issues the partner finds important.

Responses to What encompass a wide range of outcomes. Costs and resources are covered here. This is where plans regarding placements and project activities find their place. Last but not least, visualising the outputs and follow-ups is also vital to the whole process.

Once the brainstorm has ended, each Tandem partner organises their answers on the Partner Canvas. They can then elaborate and create a visual map for their project. Should they get lost in the details of the project, they can always refer to the bigger picture they drew using the Partner Canvas.

Tips & Tricks from Christina and Pierluigi
  • Persona – Start creating a set of personas, humanised portraits of your customers, be the buyer and/or user of the company’s product. Who are they? What kind of shoes would they wear? Can you think of five real-world examples? Which are the most important?
  • Problems – A certain “persona” exists and they have certain problems and they are using certain alternatives. Think about those problems and how, with your value proposition, you can solve them.
  • “To be or not to be” – If is difficult for you to focus on your value proposition, think of what you are not. In this way, you have a new point of view on your activity.
  • “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star” – Write all of these ideas on a post-it, using a big desk, and try to organise them using the canvas grid.

You are more than welcome to try the method too! We look forward to you sharing your own Partner Canvas experience with us.