intersectorale

Intersectorale, or intersectoral in English, is a term used to describe actions and policies that involve coordination across different sectors of society—such as health, education, housing, transportation, and justice—to address problems that cross sector boundaries.

In public policy and governance, intersectoral work seeks to break silos, align goals and resources, and share accountability across ministries, agencies, NGOs, and the private sector. It is widely discussed in public health, social care, urban development, and environmental policy.

Mechanisms include interministerial committees, joint planning frameworks, pooled funding, shared indicators, and integrated service delivery. Stakeholder engagement and formal agreements (MOUs) support coordination.

Benefits: more comprehensive solutions, better use of resources, durable systemic change. Challenges: competing mandates, bureaucratic inertia, funding silos, data sharing, power imbalances, and measurement complexity.

Examples: WHO's Intersectoral Action for Health program; intersectoral urban health initiatives; One Health concept linking human, animal, and environmental health; intersectoral care models in welfare states.

Origin: The adjective intersectorale is used in Dutch and other languages to describe cross-sector collaboration; in English the corresponding term is intersectoral or cross-sectoral. It remains a key concept in contemporary policy discourse on integrated approaches to complex societal issues.