With increasing devolution of governance, collaboration has become ever more important as a means for community groups, regions and institutions to meet their needs. Firms also use a variety of collaborative arrangements to meet their need to compete effectively in local and global markets. However, for all the growth in collaborative activity, there are many fraught or failed attempts suggesting a need to better understand the processes of collaboration. This thesis contributes to our understanding of institutional collaboration, focusing on institutional collaborative activity, learning and context. Collaboration is not considered as a stand-alone activity, but as an activity that is a learning process influenced by context.