Collaboration dynamics in third sector social action organizations in Spain

The evolution and positioning of the Third Sector as an actor is linked to the nature and morphology of its networks and to the spaces of civic connection-collaboration around which Third Sector organisations weave their webs. This study analyses the relational dimension of the sector. The article presents some of the results of the PECOTSAS project, referring to the analysis of the articulation process of the TSSA in Spain and its contribution to the generation of collective forms of social capital. We intend to identify the main elements involved in this process in a sample of seven Autonomous Communities in order to discern the extent to which their evolution has given rise to different regional developments of the Third Sector. In methodological terms, the research results have been obtained, on the one hand, from the analysis of the literature and secondary sources (descriptive analysis), and on the other hand, from the development of 48 in-depth interviews with key informants (managers, technical staff, volunteers, stakeholders and 14 focus groups (analysis of perceptions). The study argues that, although the Third Sector is essentially a civic actor, the configuration of its networks has been largely shaped by the aspects of collaboration and service provision in public policy contexts, with advocacy, the production and internal dissemination of knowledge and the promotion of voluntary participation also being influential. Finally, we conclude that, although it is true that each of the regions under analysis presents singularities, a set of conditioning elements at the European and state levels exert a homogenising pressure on the networks.