Poster#320

34th WEDC International Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Sustainable Development and Multisectoral Approaches Munas Kalden Technical Advisor, Disaster Preparedness Programme, (Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction) , International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies/ American Red Cross, Sri Lanka Delegation. 62, Green Path, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Email: [email protected] [email protected]

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Knowledge Management as Integral Part of Sustainability -A Practical Inquiry into Knowledge Gap, Local Practice and Institutionalizing Community Memory

Abstract:

The knowledge management

is an integral part of sustainability

process. It becomes pivotal in any

community based development

project. The knowledge society

contributes to quality inputs and

cascades the benefits to the next

generations. It is an intellectual

heritage; it ought to be owned and

translated into development

activities by the beneficiary

community.

The capacity building, in the

most of development intervention,

has been used with limited sense.

The paper looks it in a broader

sense and the author discusses

existing ‘knowledge gaps’ palpable

in the development intervention

facilitated and funded by INGOs

and multilateral organizations.

When the projects come to an end,

the technical knowledge also goes

with them. Because, the absence

of institutional arrangement to

manage the knowledge. The less

focus lies in investing in

institutionalizing the local memory

as a tool of knowledge

management.

Based on the framework

developed by the author, in which

the knowledge management is sin

qua non component. It covers promoting community practices,

managing community knowledge

and translating the community

memory into institutional practice.


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The institutional arrangement revert

the knowledge to the beneficiary.

They (the community and state)

systematically promote and sustain

the impact of the intervention. A

knowledge society means of having

institutional arrangement for

managing the knowledge vertically

and horizontally.

Introduction: Managing knowledge is a social

function. Thus is serves the society

which maintains it. This is not only a

tool of social mobility and stability;

but also an agent of social change

and social transformation. In order to

make a beneficiary community,

implementing agency and donor

organization learning institutions, the

most important task managers are

required to perform is to formulate a

strategy for knowledge management.

Having done that, the next step to

be adopted is to redesign the

present functional structure. This

may involve creating infrastructure

for sharing gained knowledge,

networking among the actors at

deferent levels: beneficiaries,

implementers and donors vertically

and horizontally. The focus is

sharing and managing knowledge

among and between the

beneficiaries on one hand, and

learning from them by the other

layers: implementers and funders on

the other hand. This encourages

interdependence among them. The

palpable gap is there is no

institutional arrangement.

Strategy and Behaviour The measures to get adopted are

to transform the prevailing culture is

to manage knowledge is done with

prolonged approach: through

strategy and through behaviour. The

most of the project are project-

completion based not sustainability

based approach even though the

word ‘sustainability’, in many of the

projects, loosely used in the project

proposal to attract and secure the


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fund from donors. The managers are

busy with time frame set to achieve

the indicators, rather than not

changing the vulnerable condition

into socially transformed

phenomenon.

This social transformation should

be viewed and planned in a bigger

picture of the sustainability approach

within the particular development

context; not merely based on

programme completion approach.

The frame work (figure: 1),

developed by the author, depicts the

bigger picture with the focus on

knowledge management.

Frame work for Sustainability of Community Based Development Projects. Source: Munas Kalden (2008)


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Knowledge Management: Characteristics The working definition of

knowledge management is the

acquisition, storage, retrieval,

application, generation, and review

of the knowledge assets of an

organization in a controlled way

(Watson, 2003: 5). The project

interventions, at the community level,

have these elements. The gap is not

interconnected. The acquisition

takes place; the storage happens.

The ‘application’ has no linkage with

‘generation’. It goes alone. Any

lessons learnt in a particular

community endeavors has not been

incorporated. The intervention has

involved in generation of knowledge;

but less focus on institutionalizing

those elements with each other and

sharing with as many as possible of

vast acquaintances.

The act of managing

knowledge (rather than managing

the people that mange knowledge)

can be characterized by the

followings (Watson, 2003: 14):

1. acquire knowledge (learn,

create or identify)

2. analyze knowledge (assess,

validate or value)

3. preserve knowledge

(organize, represent or

maintain) and

4. use knowledge (apply,

transfer or share)

Knowledge Management: Sustainability Features The knowledge management

sustainability features, according to

the author, the following becomes

important based on the field

experience gained during the

professional engagement with the

international organizations as well as

National Ministries in the country

where the author comes from. The

features are operationally

interconnected; practically coincided.

In the sustainability aspect of the

knowledge management, there are


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not viewed separately. They are

given below.

Figure: 2 Integrated Knowledge Management Approach, Source: Munas Kalden, 2008

promoting community

practices

Managing Community

Knowledge

translating the community

memory into institutional

practice

Promoting Community Practices: The community managed

projects, in their intervention, for

instance, Community Based Water

and Sanitation (Watsan) as

well as Community

Based Disaster Risk

Reduction (CBDRR)

in Asian region much

focus and light thrown

on the promoting

community practices. They

use participatory appraisal tools

(PRA) in getting their involvement in

executing the intervention strategy.

The beneficiary communities, in the

region, are well internalized in using

the PRA tools.

Knowledge Management promoting community practices

Managing Community Knowledge

Translating the community memory into

institutional practice

Leadership

Corporate Social Responsibility & Volunteerism

Governance and Strategy


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Managing Community Knowledge: The operational gap is

palpable in this feature of knowledge

management. The community has its

own practices. They are well

communitized and personalized. But

nor managed. They keep managing

by the form of practicing: good and

bad. There should be a knowledge

management intervention.

Unlearning and discontinuing should

be managed. Learning involves

‘unlearning and discontinuing’ (Peter

Senge, 1990) as well. This feature

connected with the next feature

(translating community memory into

institutional practice) functionally.

When a community fails in

institutionalizing in its practices, it

begins of memory fading. Best

practiced would be practiced in their

day to day life akin to that of bad

rituals.

Translating the Community Memory into Institutional Practice: Kotter (1995) identifies

institutionalizing new approaches for

change and knowledge

management. According to him, the

change process goes through a

series of phases that require a

considerable length of time. He

delineated eight steps. Of them,

institutionalizing new approaches

also occupy significant place.

Knowledge exits in two forms:

explicit knowledge that can be

codified and tacit knowledge that can

not always be codified. If a

knowledge management is too

formalized, much tacit knowledge will

be lost. Thus knowledge

representation for knowledge

management system must be

flexible and discursive.

An Integrated Knowledge Management Approach: The figure: 2 above visualize this

approach. It tries to integrate the

content of leadership in the

knowledge management process.


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Knowledge Management: Gaps and Challenges

Personal mobility Vs Institutionalization

Linking the community activities with the research institutions

Networking and sharing the best practices vertically and horizontally

Recommendation:

Local ways of framing development problems

Engagement with social development knowledge seen as an entry point to work with government and international development institutions

Strengthening the constitution of an alliance between policy makers, researchers and international development community

Building a new knowledge

society based on democratic principles and civic commitment.

Democratizing research by drawing a greater range of civil society actors into that research process that has a greatest likelihood of influence within the society.

Building knowledge infrastructure

Democratization of knowledge Commoditization social

knowledge (linking local intellectual) and

Generate knowledge for evidence-based policy

Key Words: Knowledge Management, Community Memory, Sustainability and Institutionalization References:

1. Dunphy, Dexter; Griffiths, Andrew and Benn, Suzanne. (2003) Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability, Rutledge: London, New York.

2. Kotter, J.P. (1995), Leading Change: why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 56-63.

3. Senge, Peter (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday.

4. Watson, Ian. (2003) Applying Knowledge Management: Techniques for Building Corporate Memories, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers: London, New York.

Poster#320

Education

Transcript of Poster#320