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  <title><![CDATA[Absolute Derive]]></title>
  <link>https://absolutederive.com/</link>
  <description><![CDATA[Absolute Derive is a Lisbon-based strategy consultancy working with cultural institutions, urban development bodies, and technology companies across Portugal.]]></description>
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    <title><![CDATA[On the difficulty of writing a strategy that people actually read]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/</link>
    <description><![CDATA[Most strategy documents are written to be approved, not to be used. After nearly a decade of writing them for other organisations, Mariana Fonseca reflects on what makes the difference between a document that sits on a shelf and one that changes how a team thinks.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-06-30</pubDate>
  </item>
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    <title><![CDATA[What we learned from a stakeholder process that nearly failed]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/</link>
    <description><![CDATA[In 2023, Absolute Derive was brought into a waterfront regeneration project in Setúbal after an earlier consultation process had broken down. Mariana Fonseca writes about what went wrong the first time and what the second process did differently.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-05-14</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[Three questions worth asking before you hire a consultant]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/</link>
    <description><![CDATA[Hiring a consultant is a significant decision, and the pitch process is not always a reliable guide to what the engagement will actually be like. Mariana Fonseca offers three questions that tend to reveal more than a polished proposal.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-03-22</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[Absolute Derive joins the advisory board of Rede Portuguesa de Urbanismo Cultural]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/</link>
    <description><![CDATA[From January 2026, Mariana Fonseca joins the advisory board of the Rede Portuguesa de Urbanismo Cultural, a national network connecting urban planning practitioners and cultural institutions. She will contribute to the network's annual research programme.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-01-09</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[Organisational Strategy for Cultural Institutions in Portugal]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/notes/organisational-strategy-cultural-institutions-portugal.html</link>
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    <description><![CDATA[Cultural institutions in Portugal face a particular set of pressures that most strategy frameworks were not designed for. Funding is fragmented across public, private, and European sources. Leadership transitions are frequent and often underprepared. And the organisations themselves are usually small enough that a single strategic misstep has consequences that larger organisations can absorb. This article draws on nine years of work with arts foundations, museums, and festivals across Portugal.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-04-10</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[Stakeholder Engagement in Urban Development Projects in Portugal]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/notes/stakeholder-engagement-urban-development-portugal.html</link>
    <guid>https://absolutederive.com/notes/stakeholder-engagement-urban-development-portugal.html</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[Urban development projects in Portugal, particularly those involving waterfront regeneration, historic neighbourhood renewal, or new public infrastructure, tend to generate conflict. Some of that conflict is inevitable. But a significant portion of it is produced by consultation processes that are designed to manage opposition rather than understand it. This article draws on work with municipal bodies, urban cooperatives, and development agencies across Portugal.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2026-02-18</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[How to Write a Strategy Document That People Actually Use]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/notes/writing-strategy-documents-that-get-used.html</link>
    <guid>https://absolutederive.com/notes/writing-strategy-documents-that-get-used.html</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[The strategy document is one of the most consistently misused tools in organisational life. Organisations invest significant time and money in strategy processes, produce a document, and then watch it sit unused while the organisation continues to operate on instinct and habit. This is not always a failure of the strategy. Often it is a failure of the document. This article is about the editorial and structural choices that make the difference.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2025-12-03</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[When Does Your Organisation Actually Need a Strategy Consultant?]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/notes/when-to-hire-strategy-consultant-portugal.html</link>
    <guid>https://absolutederive.com/notes/when-to-hire-strategy-consultant-portugal.html</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[We are a strategy consultancy, so there is an obvious conflict of interest in answering this question. We will try to be honest anyway. External strategy support is not always the right answer. There are situations where it adds genuine value and situations where it is an expensive way of avoiding a decision that the organisation needs to make for itself. This article tries to distinguish between the two.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2025-09-15</pubDate>
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    <title><![CDATA[Institutional Communication for Arts Organisations: Beyond the Press Release]]></title>
    <link>https://absolutederive.com/notes/institutional-communication-strategy-arts-organisations.html</link>
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    <description><![CDATA[Most arts organisations communicate reactively. A show opens, a press release goes out. A funder asks for an impact report, one is written. A board member suggests the website needs updating, it gets updated. The result is a body of public communication that is inconsistent, often contradictory, and rarely reflects what the organisation actually believes about itself. This article is about a more deliberate approach.]]></description>
    <pubDate>2025-07-22</pubDate>
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