How to use flickr

A really helpful slide show from The Travelin’ Librarian on using flickr, which could be helpful for people wanting to share photos. If you get going in flickr, save your photos for the Knowledge Expeditions with the tag “km4dev” and it will appear in our flickr badge on this blog.

Analytical Windows by Amanuel Assaf

 The meeting was indeed a privilege to me, that it allowed me meet many people who are really skillful, thoughtful and enthusiastic about knowledge sharing and learning.  

I also got a chance to participate in the talk show- to tell a story about my experiences in knowledge management, particularly my engagement in the coordination of a national learning and advocacy platform to promote local innovations in Ethiopia. I am not sure how much of my story was educational to the workshop participants but, from my side, the questions and comments forwarded were very educational. In another meeting-I had also a chance to tell a story about my engagement in knowledge management project in Ethiopia. This story was recorded and uploaded in the Blog.

 

I have chosen to take part in Knowledge expedition project, on which the group has spent more than two days- developing the concept and the tools. The idea of the knowledge expedition was very interesting and inspiring. For me, the eight themes identified under the broad framework of knowledge expedition are very important. They can help a research to look in to the knowledge management issues from different directions. Each theme is like analytical windows, through which we can see to the world of knowledge management. Based on the context and the purpose of the study one may chose few but most appropriate windows to look in to the KM agenda. It is not necessary to deal with all the eight themes /windows for every KM research project, but some are more applicable for certain situation and others may be important different situations. The questions that are put under each theme are also like analytical tools that can guide the researcher to investigate about the chosen theme.  That was really a  knew insight for me, which I was really impressed with. I also found it very relevant for my own research ( I am doing my doctoral studies on innovation systems approach). Among the few research questions I posed, understanding the generation, sharing, communication and utilization of a certain knowledge body in agriculture is one. Apparently I am also at a stage of developing my methodological approaches to answer the research questions. The basic ideas and the windows of knowledge expedition is therefore very helpful to define and refine my methodologies and tools.. 

One important argument which, my self and another colleague of mine from Ethiopia was trying to bring to the attention of the group was that- although the themes identified under the knowledge expedition are really good- the issue of utilization of knowledge was not considered as an important theme. For us,( people from the South), we have understood that there is a stock of knowledge in the research institutions (national and international), universities and other knowledge institutions, while millions of people are going to bed with out eating. Several reasons could be given as causes of the problem.  It is true the issue is complex and the factors responsible are also complex. For example some people consider “lack of good governance” as a major responsible factor for the crisis. Nevertheless, one of the important reasons for the gap between knowledge accumulation and high level of poverty in developing countries is – because the knowledge stock we have in the country is not effectively utilized. In other words, innovation- which is not just to mean a technology or knowledge but- the translation of knowledge in to social and economic use, is not getting adequate attention. Unless knowledge is used to create new values in the social and economic systems- it is absolutely like stuff in a museum. The utilization aspect is indeed not easy and straightforward (linear). It involves several social and economic actors who have to interact, communicate, and engage in a certain mode. The mode is in turn determined by the policy, institutional, and cultural contexts. The transnational process of knowledge in to economic and social use is therefore a complex one and that demands a mix of skills, changed attitude, policy support etc. In short this is what we often refere to the concept  “innovation”. Therefore, in this workshop we strongly recommended that “Innovation” (as a process) has to be included as an important theme/window in the border knowledge expedition framework. We were indeed very glad that the group has accepted our argument and included one additional window on innovation. We will be gladly involving to develop the analytical tools of the additional window in the future. Finally, my self, as a practitioner and researcher is committed to involve in working and developing some of the windows of the knowledge expedition framework. I believe my continued engagement with the community will help me to develop my thoughts also contribute to over all works of the KM4dev community.

Resurrection

 

Click here to listen to Simone talk about her experience in organising a KS week.

Early 2004, Simone Staiger returned back to work after a short hiatus following the birth of her third son. She was excited about the opportunity – joining the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in the communications department - as it would give her some relief from her job as a full-time mom. At the same time, her confidence was at a low – she was still getting used to her new home in a country far away form her birth place and picking up a new working language.

One of her first tasks in her new position was to developed an institutional website. Intuitively, she turned to her colleagues recognising that creating and populating a website would be unsustainable on her own. She quickly nurtured a network of website focal points who together worked to build a user-friendly place to share information and news with internal staff. One lesson that Simone took away from the experience was the potential of a collaborative approach.

In January 2004, a Knowledge Sharing Project was launched in the CGIAR with the lofty goal of changing the centre’s culture to one that is oriented on sharing knowledge.

Simone was a project associate and co-organized a workshop that brought together 20 or so people across the CG to discuss what knowledge sharing meant to them and generate ideas to put forward as proposals to be accepted for project funding. It was during the workshop, that an idea popped into Simone’s head – to change the approach in running Annual Meetings at CIAT so that they would allow for more space for interactivity and engagement of ALL staff (especially those from the regions) while still working towards the meeting’s objectives.

The pilot was approved for funding and Simone was identified as the lead. She spent more than three months working full time designing an agenda and preparing for the five day event. But, these months weren’t free of challenges. Early on, Simone felt resistance towards changing the way that business was traditionally conducted at CIAT.

“I was a nothing in the institution and came up with an idea on how a very important meeting could be run better. It was clear that I was putting my hands in other people’s business.”

Simone persevered and, with the help of an external consultant and through consultations with her colleagues, she was able to get enough buy-in to move forward with an agenda based on a formula that was completely different than what staff had experienced in the past.

The agenda incorporated approaches such as open space, peer assists and a knowledge sharing fair. The event was oriented towards creating spaces for people to get to know each other and their work better in an environment that was more informal. Several elements of previous meetings remained as requested by a number of scientists who wanted to take advantage of bringing together team members face-to-face.

Reflecting back on the experience, Simone took away a number of lessons.

“Give opportunities and space to people who aren’t leaders but have ideas. And, allow them to take some risk – as is often permitted by other divisions in the organization.”

Has she seen change? Simone admits that change is coming slowly. One thing that she has noticed was that although many of her colleagues haven’t changed the way that they behave – especially in engaging partners in the work of the CG – there is a sense that they don’t feel as comfortable working with the status quo.