EUROPEAN COMMISSION
NEPAD SOUTHERN AFRICAN WATER
CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Program Office
NEPAD Southern African Water Centres of Excellence
EU JRC Contract Number: 386793
Tender Number: IES/H/2011/01/02/NC
Deliverable KM2.5
Interim Report: e-Conference on Knowledge Management
Document prepared by:
NEPAD SANWATCE Secretariat
Date: 17th January 2013
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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 5
CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................. 6
OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................................... 6
PROCEEDINGS ................................................................................................................................... 6
MARKETING....................................................................................................................................... 7
LESSONS LEARNED ........................................................................................................................... 8
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 9
UPCOMING E-CONFERENCE............................................................................................................. 9
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List of Acronyms
AU
EC
EU
JRC
KM
MDG
NEPAD
SANWATCE
African Union
European Commission
European Union
Joint Research Commission
Knowledge Management
Millennium Development Goal
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development
Southern African Water Centres of Excellence
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The NEPAD Southern African Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE) Secretariat would like to
thank all the participants of the e-Conference. We recognize that this is a new conference format
and so we are especially grateful to all those contributed to the online debate and shared their
knowledge.
A special thanks also goes out to the Joint Research Commission (JRC) and their IT team for providing
the AquaKnow platform and all the necessary support leading up to and during the e-Conference.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The NEPAD SANWATCE Secretariat organised an e-Conference on Knowledge Management in the
Southern African Water Sector and specifically the Knowledge Chain: Generation, dissemination and
feedback from the 26th November to 30th November 2012 under its contract with the JRC.
Participants were able to sign up to the e-Conference on http://econference.nepadwatercoe.org/
prior to the conference and in total ca. 70 people signed up to the open group discussion.
The e-Conference was opened by Mr. Nico Elema, the NEPAD SANWATCE Programme Manager, and
Prof. Jacqueline Goldin, University of the Western Cape, in an online video discussing Knowledge
Management (KM) in general and thus providing the backdrop to the discussions that followed. The
discussion was divided into two parts:
1) What is KM? Who are the stakeholders in the water sector?
2) A new direction?
Do researchers in the water sector have to change their perspective and become more
policy-tuning, rather than policy-shaping?
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CONTEXT
In the past decades the European Union (EU) has developed a wide cooperation network through
Aid, Development Cooperation and Technical and Scientific Cooperation. By adopting in 2002 the
Communication on water management in developing countries, a paper setting out EU priorities for
development cooperation on water, the EC recognised the crucial role of water resources
management for sustainable development. The management of water resources is fundamental to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for which the EU has undertaken many
commitments to help accelerate progress in reaching these ambitious targets.
In 2009 the EC established a support project to the African Union (AU)/NEPAD Networks of Centres
of Excellence (Water CoE) in Western and in Southern Africa in order to improve the impact of
African research and development on the water resource sector. The EC is funding, through the JRC,
the networks in order to enable Africa to benefit from the diversity of institutions and programmes
available across the continent for South to South capacity development with the final aim of
strengthening the link between policy and research and higher education.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the e-conference are:
a) Share and disseminate the results of the international research and educational experiences
relevant to the subject.
b) Improve partnership and give visibility of the current project at the international level.
c) Identify possible project and thematic collaborations.
d) Contact international donors supporting current research and technical activities of the
Southern African Centres of Excellence.
e) Identify common issues and analyse local and regional solutions.
PROCEEDINGS
An e-conference is a discussion on a specific theme among a group of people conducted via the
Internet using email (e-group). The e-conference format appears as an interesting alternative to the
traditional seminars and workshops, because it saves mission costs and lets to the participant more
flexibility in his implication and time scheduling. The 70 participants were invited to contribute to
the facilitated discussion in their own time over the course of a week. Participants from a variety of
backgrounds - journalism, academia; activist networks and from an international background signed
up on http://econference.nepadwatercoe.org/ and were then automatically transferred into the
AquaKnow e-Conference group where the discussion was hosted.
The e-Conference was opened by Mr. Nico Elema, the NEPAD SANWATCE Programme Manager, and
Prof. Jacqueline Goldin, University of the Western Cape, in an online video discussing Knowledge
Management (KM) in general and thus providing the backdrop to the discussions that followed. The
discussion was divided into two parts:
1) What is KM? Who are the stakeholders in the water sector?
2) A new direction?
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Do researchers in the water sector have to change their perspective and become more
policy-tuning, rather than policy-shaping?
The e-Conference started off with an immediate focus on policy. Professor Daniel CW Nkhuwa of the
University of Zambia clearly demonstrates the added value of incorporating information and the
results of research into groundwater management policy and even day-to-day management. He
rightfully recognizes that the uptake by political beneficiaries of this information is not always
evident, and suggests a certain responsibility for knowledge producers to ‘package’ their knowledge
to facilitate the uptake. This is not evident to achieve, as is pointed out by Andrea Leone of the Joint
Research Centre Ispra who states “In our experience we noticed a consensus among stakeholders on
the need for common approaches to KM but scepticism about top down or artificially created
solutions – user shaped solutions can be more “chaotic” but more likely to work.”
Based on these arguments Mr. Murray Biedler, expert on the southern African water sector and KM,
put forward the controversial argument that the mismatch between policy-makers and researchers
is also due to the time lag of the two worlds; researchers think long-term while policy-makers are
tied to short-term time frames and outputs. This led us to ask the question whether you think that
researchers in the water sector have to change their perspective and become more policy-tuning,
rather than policy-shaping.
Andrea Leone from the JRC turned the question around and challenged policy-makers to adapt their
decision-making processes. This was followed up by Prof. Goldin from the University of the Western
Cape, South Africa, who remarked that policy-makers want simplistic data and clear
recommendation. She therefore suggested that scientists publish two papers; one which adheres to
the strict scientific ethical requirements, while the other presents the information for the policymakers in form of policy briefs. Prof. Nkhuwa, in particular, raised the issue of ethical standards in
the scientific community and reminded the participants that science and data cannot exist in a
vacuum but have to serve a purpose. It is, to quote Prof. Goldin, “the researchers’ ethical duty to
transfer information as accurately and precisely as possible” and face-to-face interaction with policymakers is preferred at all stages of the policy cycle. In the end, all commentators agreed that it is up
to all stakeholders – researchers, policy-makers, and society to contribute their specific knowledge,
in order to improve the well-being of the southern African water sector.
MARKETING
The Secretariat utilised numerous means to advertise the e-Conference and attract participants:
a) The Programme Manager, Mr. Nico Elema was interviewed by Radio Africa prior to the eConference in November 2012.
b) We widely distributed the e-Conference information to our partner institutions, network
member institutions, etc.
c) We published the below announcement on our homepage:
E-conference on knowledge management in the Southern African water sector
Nov.20,2012
A free virtual conference – the first of its kind on knowledge management in the
Southern African water sector – will be hosted from 26 to 30 November by the NEPAD
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Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE), in conjunction
with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
“An e-conference is a discussion on a specific theme among a group of people
conducted via the Internet using email among members of a specific e-group,” explains
Nico Elema, regional programme manager of SANWATCE. “It’s an interesting alternative
to the traditional format of seminars and workshops, because it saves mission costs and
provides more flexibility to participants in relation to their participation and time
scheduling.”
“We are very excited about this opportunity and to be able to connect with likeminded
people in the water sector in the region,” he says. “We are looking forward to lively
debate, which in turn will stimulate skills development and growth within the sector.”
All discussions and presentations will take place on the online platform AquaKnow.net, a
collaborative workspace and content management system. Video addresses by keynote
speakers will be available to set the scene for the various topics of discussion.
The topic of the first e-conference will be the knowledge chain within the water sector,
and how it can be disseminated and used.
Two further e-conferences are also being planned, around topics such as the need for
joint action towards water knowledge management, and challenges and problems that
is being faced. Dates for these e-conferences will be confirmed.
The SANWATCE secretariat is based at Stellenbosch University, and is affiliated to the
Stellenbosch University Water Institute.
To
join
the
discussions
of
http://econference.nepadwatercoe.org/.
the
e-conference,
sign
up
at
LESSONS LEARNED
The main shortcoming of the first NEPAD SANWATCE e-Conference was that, unfortunately, it
received too little input. This resulted in a situation where only a few individuals, closely linked to
the network, provided comments. Although these seemed to have been read by many people, it did
not lead to a vivid discussion.
For the upcoming e-Conference, the Secretariat has decided to change its tactic to attract more
participants and increase participation.
Firstly, to focus the topic more solution-centred as some of the problems and challenges have
already been pointed out. Secondly, we will try and link the e-Conference to the UN Water Day in
March to bring it into a wider context of water challenges. This strategic link could also mean that
we might attract more participants. Thirdly, we will contact some key stakeholders in the sector
prior to the e-Conference personally and make sure they are aware and prepared to participate.
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CONCLUSION
This interim report reflected the proceedings of the first of three e-Conference which NEPAD
SANWATCE will deliver in collaboration with the JRC under their KM project. Overall the first topic of
the e-Conference provided an interesting insight into the landscape and most pertinent challenge
arising in the southern African water sector: The difficult link between academic knowledge and
policy-makers. For the upcoming e-Conferences on Topic 2: Joint Action for Water KM and Topic 3:
Challenges and Problems of KM this challenge will addressed further.
UPCOMING E-CONFERENCE
Two further e-Conferences are currently being planned in March 2013 during the UN World Water
Week. Both will again be hosted on the JRC’s www.aquaknow.net, although the sign-up page on
http://econference.nepadwatercoe.org/ is already open.
Topic 2: Joint action for Water KM
17th – 22nd March 2013
Topic 3: Challenges and Problems of KM
17th – 22nd March 2013
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