KM4Dev events guidelines

KM4Dev events guidelines (September 2005)

KM4Dev is a community of international development practitioners who are interested in knowledge management and knowledge sharing issues and approaches, and who seek to share ideas and experiences in this domain.

As such, any KM4Dev member (or his/her organization) willing to undertake the organization of a face-to-face event, designed to bring together members of the community - and/or to invite new prospective members – in order to share experiences or learn new KM/KS approaches, are encouraged to do so. This community is fueled by the energy and enthusiasm of its members and the KM4Dev Core group welcomes members taking initiative of hosting and organizing events.

As a community, KM4Dev has evolved following these supporting principles:

1. Open and interactive in nature
2. Supports and encourages a mix of individuals (Northern and Southern participation, large and small organizations, academics and practitioners, male and female)
3. (International) development is the specific, underlying context to our exploration of KM/KS issues and approaches

Potential organizers of events would need to take into account the aforementioned principles when doing their planning. Concretely, this would mean:

• A preponderance of participatory or interactive-type sessions (the goal is at least 50%), like:
  • Discussion rounds in small groups
  • Peer assists
  • Storytelling sessions
  • Brainstorming
• An attempt to blend participation from different types of organizations and people (a funding pool to allow Southern-based participation is also highly encouraged for all events)
  • Half of the presentations should be made by people from developing countries
• A majority of development practitioners as leads, facilitators or presenters of sessions (the goal is at least 75%)
• Time and space for informal gatherings and sharing of experiences, e.g.:
  • Lunch - at least 90 minutes
  • Breaks - at least 30 minutes
  • Possibility that the participants can have lunch together
  • Enough physical space to meet during the breaks

The KM4Dev Core group also encourages the inclusion of one or two of its members on the organizing committee of the event, to ensure continuity. It would be the responsibility of this/these Core group member(s) to report back to the entire Core group on its content and format, and obtain endorsement of the final agenda.

To contact the KM4Dev Core group about organizing/hosting an event, or to obtain more information, please send an email to KM4DevCoregroup@dgroups.org