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Collaboration across sectors is imperative to solving complex public problems, for example, to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. This article draws particular attention to the inclusion of associations, such as civil society organizations, in the move toward collaborative public policymaking. Collaboration is an important issue. Yet, there is a gap between the discourse highlighting its value and the difficulties actors face in practice to develop it. Based on a literature analysis, which notes the fragmentation of knowledge on the subject, three linked proposals are put forward to develop the research agenda: (1) bridging the different research fields addressing the collaborative evolution and aspirations of public policymaking and management; (2) developing a multi-level approach to collaboration as an actor-led process and adopting theoretical anchorages that are consistent with this aim; (3) the diversification of methodological approaches to collaboration.