"[...] Integrity Action has been exploring this question through conversations with civil society representatives, government, researchers, and citizens. During 2020 we interviewed 25 figures from sectors including social accountability, open government, and civic tech, and combined this with feedback from CSOs, government officials and citizens taking part in some of our projects. The majority of the contributors were from the Global South. We combined this with a literature review covering around 200 shortlisted research, policy and evaluation reports from a variety of fields. We were not only asking how citizen-centred accountability (CCA) mechanisms can be made to last, but also asking more broadly whether and when sustainability should be pursued, and what sustainability looks like in social accountability. In addition, we explored particular issues of relevance to sustained impact, including incentives for key stakeholders, the importance (or otherwise) of independence from the service provider, the use of technology, and inclusion. The purpose of this note is to begin to break down and make sense of some of the different perspectives on sustainability we have encountered though these discussions, as the first of a number of contributions on the topic over the coming months. Together, these contributions aim to offer a range of insights for different stakeholders: for donors thinking about long term funding horizons and different models they might want to support; for practitioners thinking about the kinds of questions to consider when designing CCA programmes and mechanisms; and for academics and experts, as a modest contribution to our collective understanding of the value of CCA more generally." (Page 1)