Through an in-depth case study of a multi-stakeholder meta-organization, I explore how its public and private members – despite different worldviews and interests – seek to address the grand challenge of sustainable urban mobility. Applying insights from the institutional work approach, I analyze interviews complemented by secondary data to identify sets of purposive actions (theorizing, negotiating and routinizing) which – combined – allow members to develop a common vision for resolving urban mobility issues. While member-organizations face collaborative tensions hampering their work, they are supported by the meta-organization staff to create a common ground. Testing their plans in a real context allows members to revise their shared vision and provide evidence of their collaboration’s relevance, which in turn encourages members to maintain their work and emulate it in other territories. The study contributes to meta-organization and institutional work literature by expanding micro-level understandings of the effects of meta-organizations on efforts to instill institutional change intents performed by heterogenous actors.
