The Challenge Program for Water and Food (CPWF) workshop that was organized on 2-3 December 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focused on knowledge management and communication in the CPWF and aimed at drawing lessons learned, challenges and opportunities across the Basin experiences and devise steps forward.
This page gathers resources about this workshop. Agenda
In this session, the participants were split in two groups. One of the two groups focused on specific approaches that seemed novel ways of doing comms/KM. The other group's results are directly below this section.
Learning trips --> sharing experience
High profile knowledge management and comms (It was taken seriously)
Introduce the social media as a channel to spread knowledge around different actors
New institutions picking up participatory methods
Reflection workshops
CIP, GIS committed to focus on stakeholder engagement
Adaptive management
Orienting Basin Development Challenges toward theory of change beyond research
New partnerships
Capacity building / flexibility
Policy briefs / dialogue
Hire people who are already experts instead of wasting time by ?? people to learn ABC
Principles and lessons from CPWF
This is the other group - next to 'specific innovations' - which discussed general principles and lessons as give-aways.
Profiles and competencies
Comms and KM is done by a) comms/KM staff and b) other people
Comms / KM roles and responsibilities must change over the course of the program/progress
(Positive) deviants ==> competencies and skill sets of the people involved. Key: facilitation and ?? expertise - these roles can be strengthened (e.g. Mahamoudou working as comms officer from a project officer position).
Good inputs are as important as the means to disseminate knowledge
Comms/KM Strategy and adapting along the way
Nevermind the comms/KM strategy but mind your purpose(s) and principles
Having a good mix between being strategic and opportunistic
Careful process + planning, learning processes are needed
Budget and time for comms/KM
R4D products evolution. Having them: participatory, ??, ??, contractually committed and budgeted
Comms ?? to be budgeted/planned at all intervention levels (project, region, ??)
Comms4D takes time and money... plus appropriate timing
KM and comms feeds off science and processes throughout the initiative (see this graph, there's comms to be done all the time)
"Work on your house first" : internal knowledge sharing work and culture matter (also for external work) e.g. lead by example and make sure good internal comms feedback loops are in place to support exterrnal comms too
Accepting or becoming comfortable with being faced with and having to deal with dichotomies (opposite paradigms ???)
You don't always have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to comms - learn from others and if you figure out a better way, share it!
Open as default (open: access, knowledge, space, communication, about failures) - though mind specific circumstances (it's not always good to share everything with everyone)
Engagement!
"Don't throw messages at us". Engage with stakeholders throughout.
Engagement should frame KM & comms
Comms & KM are required at local level: resource centre, IT services
Mind space, voice, power dynamics: Create your enabling environment (it's also about us preparing the space to let specific voices be heard and power dynamics to be changed)
Tools, platforms and approaches
Deal with the proliferation of tools (basin - region)
Not all tools work always
Try new approaches to KM/Comms but be accountable for them (e.g. OLM [outcome logic model], M&E [Monitoring & Evaluation])
Context matters (especially at very local level) ... so feel free to ignore any of this
IP [Innovation Platforms] --> R4D platforms. Evolution of IPs as a way of sustaining them - diversification of the innovation.
Integration of comms/KM
"Sell" KM/Comms by combining information management and knowledge sharing e.g. events --> documentation --> outputs etc.
Integration of comms, M&E, information for greater learning
Nevermind the labels, "viva blurred boundaries" (it's great to not be obsessed with the conceptual discussions and find a whole to bring related approaches into a set with blurred boundaries that are all related to learning)
Structurally connect, reflect, document and build upon (the past)
In KM there will always be learning along the way.
Follow up from this workshop
KMC for CRPs group
Where? Which channels to use?
Preferably external channels that we can rely on beyond this workshop, platforms that have been set up by others and are likely to continue such as:
The Knowledge Sharing toolkit
This KMC4CRP wiki
The CapDev Community of practice
The Climate Change and Social Learning checklist
What do KMC folks need?
Face to face advice (advisory role / mentorship) and expertise:
Technical
General communication / KM
Specific (e.g. on PR/PA, on policy advocacy etc.)
Case studies / stories
Evidence (numbers, quantitative information!)
Principles
A 'survival manual for KMCs lost in complex initiatives'
Mental models, maps and diagrams that are useful.
What do we suggest sharing effectively and how?
Advices and stories as individuals, face to face at various workshops etc. in our quality of CPWF ambassadors (all of us)
Principles, linked to stories and cases to be put on the kmc4CRP wiki (perhaps as a Prezi - it could be presented as that 'survival manual for KMCs in complex initiatives') (Terry Clayton and Sarah Green)
A list of mental models, maps, diagrams, to be compiled on the kmc4CRP wiki (Michael Victor, Ewen Le Borgne + anyone)
Update the CCSL checklist with interesting engagement issues etc. (Ewen Le Borgne)
Develop a series of blog posts (on ILRI Maarifa, NBDC, CPWF etc.) (Ewen Le Borgne and others)
Update the knowledge sharing toolkit with our inputs in terms of tools, approaches, examples etc. (???)
This page gathers resources about this workshop.
Agenda
Presentations of the Basin 'rivers of life'
Andes
Ganges
Limpopo
Mekong
Nile
http://prezi.com/czc9aj1621c5/edit/#65_346768Volta
Program
Miguel Saravia later prepared this Prezi about the experiences of CPWF in using comms/KM in an R4D context.
Stories to tease out some of the KMC innovations in the basins
Andes
Ganges
Limpopo
Limpopo River of Life PresentationLimpopo story
Mekong
Nile
See the story by Zelalem Lema about the innovation platforms work done at local level (in woredas/districts).Volta
See the story by Mahamoudou Sawadogo about the contribution of IPs to changing farming practices and R4D in the Volta.Program
Specific innovations
In this session, the participants were split in two groups. One of the two groups focused on specific approaches that seemed novel ways of doing comms/KM. The other group's results are directly below this section.Principles and lessons from CPWF
This is the other group - next to 'specific innovations' - which discussed general principles and lessons as give-aways.Follow up from this workshop
KMC for CRPs group
Where? Which channels to use?Preferably external channels that we can rely on beyond this workshop, platforms that have been set up by others and are likely to continue such as:
What do KMC folks need?
What do we suggest sharing effectively and how?