The NWEC devotes every possible effort to increase partnerships and cooperation with different international, regional, and national institutions, organizations, and governmental entities. Promoting partnerships is one of the NWEC core strategies. Collaboration and partnerships between experts from different disciplines, as well as between academics and representatives of industry, enable the development and implementation of best practices among all the concerned parties including the public and private sectors. The NWEC targets, among others, the following key partners as instrumental for influencing the water-energy-environment policy and decision makers.

The strategic partners of the NWEC include, among others, Ministry of Energy and Industry (MOEI), Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Environmental Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA), Department of Energy (DOE), Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM), Al Ain Municipality (AAM), Ajman Municipality (AM), National Center of Meteorology (NCM), Masdar Institute (MIST); Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC). In addition, the NWEC has collaborations with international institutions such as Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait; Sultan Qaboos University, Oman; National Oil and Gas Authority, Bahrain; Texas A & M University, USA; Exeter University, UK; Martin Luther University, Halle/Saale, Germany; National Research Centre (NRC), Denmark; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA, and many other universities. Furthermore, the NWEC collaborated with several international firms like Rizzo Associates, Pittsburg, USA; Schlumberger Water Service, France; DOOSAN, Dammam R&D Center, KSA; INPEX, Tokyo, Japan; Dornier Consulting Office, Germany.

Since 2017, the NWEC developed cooperation frameworks with different UAEU colleges and departments to provide the highest level of services to stakeholders and governmental institutions. The NWEC has over 40 affiliated faculty members from different departments.