Development Cooperation Handbook/Learning and Knowledge Management

Learning and Knowledge Management

We said before that this handbook is a knowledge sharing platform and that dialogue enables the articulation of learning. Here we will try to better define what knowledge is and how far can be collected and exchanged.

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At the base of our awareness we have a unitary vision of ourselves and the world which, as far as we are confident of its value, we call "our knowledge of reality". Many particular experiences and visions contributed to the creation of this unitary vision and we then disassemble the unitary knowledge of reality into particular knowledge-s. These, once fashioned into concepts and articulated into verbal expressions can be stored so that we, or others who have access and retrieve these information. Once such information is compared with other information we have on the subject and is validated within our world vision, then our perception of particular processes and facts becomes clearer and knowledge of reality becomes more comprehensive.

Personification of knowledge ( Επιστημη - Episteme) in Celsus Library in Ephesus

So knowledge is something that is exclusively ours, because knowledge is really inside us and is produced by us (someone will even say that knowledge is us); there is no place then in us where we can store it. However human beings frame their visions in constant consultation and comparison with the vision of others and we learn from each other. In this sense we can say that "we transmit knowledge" even if it would be more correct to say that we transmit our accounts of what we learned so that others can avail of this information to frame their own knowledge about it.

Transmission of information so as to enable wider and deeper knowledge in colleagues is really the clue of the processes of reciprocal "empowerment". We do that to each other as much as we are interested to co-operate and synergize; while on the contrary whenever we have rivalry and hostility we try to hide what we know to each other or even try to deliberately misinform them so that their knowledge becomes weaker and confused.

The term "knowledge management" is relatively recent and is related to the process of learning and transmission of memory within the organizations. Knowledge in this sense is one of the fundamental assets of any organization, but since it is "stored" in the employees rather then in the organization cupboards and safes, then organizations try to use various processes and tools to organize, record, store and retrieve knowledge. As we move upscale from the assets of an organization to the asset of a consortium or a partnership, then we can refer as "knowledge management" to the process of sharing information, skills and expertise are exchanged among different organizations and different stakeholders.

Development actors have recognized that knowledge constitutes an essential resource for development and that knowledge sharing is an essential for networking and advocacy. However information sharing constitutes a major challenge because many organizations consider their specialized know-how as a strategic asset and want to maintain their competitive advantage on others that compete in fund raising.

Robert Reid, Knowledge (1896). Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.

At the same time knowledge-sharing is an essential requisite for advocacy activities and policy coherence for development Organisations need to give more importance and emphasis to collecting, compiling, organizing and sharing knowledge, experiences and Good Practices. Developed training curricula, manuals, and learning materials need to be widely disseminated and shared with relevant government and other departments to encourage their mainstreaming. This activity could include, among others, codifying and demonstrating the efficacy of specific methodological approaches and providing clues and advice to prevent the repetition of unsuccessful practices.

This handbook, along with the linked audiovisual media, is a testimony of the beauty and the power of knowledge sharing.

In this section we share some of the concepts and processes that we have been testing for managing the knowledge contained in this handbook.

Subsections of this chapter

• What is Knowledge management?
• Capitalize and utilize knowledge
• Training and Knowledge Management
• Training as a Communication Strategy
• The team learning and development plan
• Individual Change

See also

⇒ Sharing knowledge and resources

In other sections of this handbook

• Characteristics of a "learning organization"
  
• The Vrinda Project
  
• Cooperation and Communication
  
• Communication Management
  
  • Communication Planning
    • Identify communication stakeholders
    • Analyse the communication needs of each stakeholder
    • Identify the information for fulfilling the information needs of each stakeholder
    • Identify the Method and the Effort Required
    • Prioritize the Communication Options
    • Develop a Conflict Management Strategy
  • Project information distribution
  • Listening and Feedback
  • Addressing misunderstanding
  • Planning and executing a communication action for promoting awareness

• Communication Skills
  
  • Listening and Feedback
  • Addressing misunderstanding
  • Development Cooperation Handbook/Communication Skills/Asking questions
  • Do not be judgmental, lest…
  • Encouraging Openness
  • Communicating Credibility
  • Building a Climate of Trust
  • Behaviors that Endanger Trust
  • Factors that may block the flow of information
  • How to present an idea

⇒ The boss is never happy (especially if it is a project manager)

On Wikipedia

• Knowledge management
• Knowledge
  
• Knowledge community
• Knowledge ecosystem

On other Wikibooks

Knowledge Management Cases in Asia

Sri Vidya Yantra