Message to the KM4dev community

From KM4DevWiki

To: km4dev-l@degroups.org

Subject: KM4Dev Workshop - Netherlands, June 2007: Initial expression of interest

“Simone and Allison had been working on the Knowledge Expeditions idea for more than a year...The idea is to find a way to move beyond the tools we normally use and provide a fresh and inspiring approach to the issues and challenges we deal with. From time to time, they had managed to meet one another in the same city for something else and squeezed the work in their busy agendas. They shared the idea with the KM4Dev community and had a chance to test it out at KM4Dev in Brighton. Still, progress moved at a snail's pace as both of them had competing priorities. So they decided to register the initiative for the 2007 KM4Dev Workshop where they would like to use the time and space to gather some fresh input from the community and, most importantly, focus on their project as a team for almost 2 full days”.

A group of Netherlands-based organizations and other individuals decided to organize a KM4Dev workshop in 2007 that would put the emphasis on the WORK part of “workshop”, creating an event that offers the community some space to work on collaborative KM/KS and organizational leaning projects. This event would also – as in past KM4Dev workshops – serve as a venue for the sharing of experiences and exploration of ideas.

This encounter offers the opportunity to create or to strengthen collaboration within the community by involving each other in the design, execution and/or dissemination of existing or new initiatives. So, if you have been working with colleagues from different locations or organizations on an idea or project, this would be the chance to move it a step forward. Or if you simply have an idea that has been spinning in your head for a while, share it, and perhaps this will be the opportunity to find partners to help turn it into a reality.

Here are a few examples of ideas or projects that have been already shared:

1. Develop basic KM for development curriculum (with the participation from Southern trainers)

2. Further develop the research-oriented Knowledge Expeditions (for e.g. the "Fire from the Field" topic) see http://www.km4dev.org/wiki/index.php/Knowledge_Expeditions

3. Hands-on experimentation with technologies for communities and networks and evaluate /recommend them for specific uses/users

4. Meet with peers with similar specific challenges to discuss and assess them, in order to design: a book or other learning object, a training programme, etc.

At this early stage, we would like to get a sense as to whether people are interested in participating in this type of project-based workshop (below you will find the characteristics of what we mean by “project” that can be worked on). Logistical details will be developed further as we get a better idea of how many people would like to participate, but this is what we can tell you at this point:

Length and date: 3 days, either 12-14 June or 18-20 June, 2007 (date to be confirmed early February)

Location: somewhere in the Netherlands (location to be confirmed early February)

Format: the 3-day workshop will be a combination of project working sessions (about 9 hours in total), and discussions /knowledge sharing/explorations within the full group

Funding: we are working on the possibility of small grants to support participants that would otherwise not be able to attend, but please note that the KM4Dev community does not take any responsibility for future funding of ideas/projects which will be developed during the workshop

Fee: a nominal fee of 100 euros or less will potentially be applied. Participants will also have to pay for their own travel, accommodation and meals (unless receiving a support grant)

Here are the characteristics of the ideas/projects that would be developed:

• The focus of the idea/project relates to knowledge management / knowledge sharing / organizational learning for the Development sector
• The idea/project is a collaborative project with two or more individuals or organizations jointly developing it and that are represented in the KM4Dev community
• The ideas/projects are potentially useful for other participants, organizations and/or sub-sectors of development cooperation
• Work to be undertaken on the idea/project during the workshop should be designed for groups of 3 to 5 people
• The idea/project will be worked upon for a duration of 9 hours, maximum (3 half-days)
• The ideas/projects examined will be at any of the following stages: development (can be in its starting or final phase but realistically achievable in 9 hours work), appraisal or evaluation
• All documentation about the project should be made available to workshop participants (and later to the larger KM4Dev community) and will be considered Open Content
• The idea/project, which will be worked upon at the workshop, will not require any particular programme or software that is not readily available on a standard computer.

To propose an idea or project to work on collaboratively at the event, please send an email to km4dev2007@dgroups.org no later than February 28, 2007 with the following information:

• Title of idea/project
• Brief description (one paragraph)
• Current stage (idea stage, early project development stage, etc.)
• Possible peers or collaborators (n.b. they also need to be present at the workshop)
• Estimated work time needed (9 hours maximum)
• Support needs (facilitator, resources, facilities, etc.)
• Your name, organization (if any) and email

Alternatively, if you don’t have an idea or project but would like to show initial interest in participating in the event, please also send an email to km4dev2007@dgroups.org no later than February 28, 2007. The proposed ideas/projects will be posted on the KM4Dev website in March 2007 and you will be able to match your interests with those of others who proposed projects.

Best regards, KM4Dev Netherlands 2007 Coordinating Committee