Abstract
The last decades have seen the emergence of cross-sectoral social partnerships (CSSPs) formed to accelerate responses to the threats confronting environmental and human health. With both threats and solutions being woven in a complex and dynamic way into the core fabric of modern society, CSSPs have risen in a somewhat ad hoc fashion with the threats they aim to alleviate. They now abound within and across levels, from local to global, many of a temporary nature, some bearing critical bridge functions. Building upon the literatures of adhocracy and social movements, this paper articulates a collective action model for multi-level convergence. Using an inductive case study approach, we examine a 10-year effort deployed on healthy living in the province of Quebec (Canada). We observed CSSPs at provincial and local levels, with a special focus on QuebecEnForme (QEF), formed with challenging bridging roles between top down and bottom up institutions and activities.