On Monday 10th June the Global Sustainable Congress kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand, organised by Times Higher Education. For four days of discussions, panel sessions and talks about all things sustainability, especially related to higher education, topics included energy decarbonisation, biodiversity, governance and policy. The University of Nottingham co-sponsored the congress and hosted a range of events during the week.  Amy-Louise Johnston (Cohort 6), Luke Woodliffe (Cohort 6), Hiba Azim (Cohort 7), Morag Nixon (Cohort 7) and Jack Bobo (Centre Lead and Director of Food Systems Institute, UoN UK) hosted a pre-conference session centred around the sustainability development goal 17: Partnerships for the goals. The session included four short talks from the members of the CDT showcasing their sustainability related research as well as barriers they have faced in relation to collaboration during their projects. There was also a panel session and a round table discussion, engaging a diverse audience to discuss barriers to collaboration and possible solutions. The discussion session was assisted by colleagues from the UoN Malaysia and China campuses. The session was designed and organised by the members of the CDT and Jack Bobo, with assistance from Emma Darwin, the Research Advocacy team and Peter Licence. The session was oversubscribed, created an inclusive atmosphere for effective discussion and the data collated is planned to be included in a written article with the aim of publishing to share the main themes of discussion and showcase case studies where solutions have been found to some of the common barriers to collaboration. Written by Morag Nixon (Cohort 7).