Effective partnerships (between community organisations, with various stakeholders of all ages, between clients and service providers, and more) are an ever more pressing need if we are to provide effective services and create the kinds of communities - and indeed the kind of world - that we would like to see. Here are four resources with information and tips on how to go about developing successful partnerships.

Collaborating with Business for Social Transformation
Though written back in 2008, this guide is still very useful for community organisations wishing to develop partnerships with businesses

Building Effective Partnerships
This guide identifies some of the key elements needed to develop an effective partnership. It provides a suggested framework for the organization and identifies the ingredients common to successful partnerships.

The Australian Third Sector Magazine offers an e-guide at a reasonable cost: Creating Effective Partnerships for Your NFP.

The FindYouth website, though US based, is also helpful in an Australian context. Start with their Community Assessment page, then take links from that page to information about Identifying and Building Effectve Partnerships, Sustaining Effective Partnerships and Managing Effective Partnerships, as well as tips for engaging young people in those partnerships.

For anyone working with young people, this report is worth downloading and reading: Australia's Youth Matters: Young people talk about what matters to them.

AYAC believes that young people are experts in their own lives and their own experiences. In August 2013, AYAC partnered with The Australia Institute to conduct a quantitative survey of young Australians aged 17-24 years to discover what issues they cared about and wanted the government to take action on over the next three years.

AYAC conducted a complimentary (sic) survey of young people to gather qualitative feedback on what lies beneath – what they’ve heard about the issue, their experiences and why they think that the government should be doing more to address these concerns. The report presents the top issues identified by our survey, and direct commentary from young Australians on why these issues are important to them.

If you or anyone you know is considering the gift of a puppy this festive season, you may like to read about the RSPCA's Christmas campaign and some 'facts on buying a puppy this Christmas'.

The information includes tips on how to select a puppy that is NOT produced by a 'puppy farm' or backyard breeder.

It also reminds us to be careful of those impulse buys because owning a pet is a long term commitment. Sadly every year after Christmas the RSPCA is "overwhelmed with surrendered dogs and kittens as a result of impulse buying".

Included in the information are downloads for their Smart Puppy and Dog Buyers Guide or Smart Puppy Buyer's Checklist.

If you'd like to know more about puppy farming, the RSPCA also has a dedicted Close Puppy Factories website. There are also two other sites to mention, where concerned people are running campaigns to end puppy factories: Oscar's Law (Oscar was one of a number of dogs who were rescued from a puppy factory in central Victoria, where they had been neglected to the point they required urgent veterinary care) and Puppy Prisoners.

We should warn you that many of the images and videos on these sites are alarming and distressing! But we decided to share the links in this issue of Starlink in the hope that the information they provide may encourage others to offer their support and help to end this appalling practice.

In last year's December Starlink, we collected a whole bunch of websites with Christmas activities for kids as well as ideas for a more sustainable and economic festive season. We're not repeating them all this year, so if you'd like to revisit them, you can find the December 2013 issue of Starlink in our archives. :)

But this year we will add three more websites with a wealth of ideas and activities for the whole family - also including online games, recipes, fonts, stories, screensavers, trivia and clipart:
Xmas Fun
Why Christmas
Childhood 101

And if gift-giving is a part of your festive celebrations but you're running late, here are some last minute ideas:
How to do Last Minute Christmas Shopping
Several great tips and ideas for that last minute rush through the shops.
40 Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas
A wide range of home made or otherwise quick last minute gifts. Click on the thumbnails to the right of the gallery to view them
Christmas Gifts from your Kitchen
As the title suggests, these are all delicious goodies you can make yourself.

Visit our Events Calendar to find details of conferences, workshops, training opportunities, exhibitions and special days to celebrate!

January is a comparatively quiet month each year. But it does showcase the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Saltwater Freshwater Festival and several awareness days and other special events.

You might also like to consider exploring the experience of being a vegan during Veganuary. Readers in Victoria may like to check out the Young Teachers Art Exhibition at Gallery Sunshine.

And our readers in the early childhood sector may like to browse ahead in the Events Calendar. If you can't attend the International Research in Early Childhood Education conference in Chile during January, the World Forum on Early Care and Education in May in Puerto Rico might be just the thing for you instead. :)