Difference between revisions of "KM4Dev2017Geneva"

Latest revision as of 22:49, 19 April 2017

KM4Dev 2017 event Geneva

Background

KM4Dev was actively involved in the Knowledge for Development Summits in Vienna in October 2016. At these events KM4Dev was awarded through KMA for its work as a global community of practice. We used the opportunity to also hold a KM4Dev2016Vienna gathering at which KMA's Andreas Brandner took the decision to join the KM4Dev core group.
This eventually led to KM4Dev being involved in the organization of the Knowledge for Development: Global Partnership Conference 2017, to be held in Geneva from 3-4 April 2017 at the Palais des Nations, Conference Room XXIV. We refer to this event on a separate page K4D2017Geneva Conference.

Back-to-back to this event KM4Dev is organizing a full day Open Space event as warming-up to the conference the next day. The KM4Dev2016Geneva event takes place at the Impact Hub Geneva from 10:00-17:00 on Sunday 2 April 2017.

Programme

The KM4Dev Open Space day has as motto Knowledge Management for Development, towards a Knowledge Sharing Society and serves as a warming up for the next day's conference K4D2017Geneva. For this we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Agenda Knowledge for Development and the proposed Knowledge Development Goals that may reinforce the Agenda 2030 process. The KM4Dev day programme is built around a multi-round Open Space, which allows any topics participants will suggest at the opening market.

The programme can be downloaded here KM4Dev Geneva programme.

We recommend to also join km4dev2017geneva dedicated dGroup to converse about all this as of now!

Artifacts from the Meetings

Dear KM4Dev friends

Slightly later than the Seattle team, we would like to give you a brief report on the events of the KM4Dev day on 2 April and of the Global Partnership Conference: Knowledge for Development which took place on 3-4 April at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. Both of these events were covered by the social reporting team organised by Cesar Robles of Helvetas. Cesar and the team did a great job!

The KM4Dev meeting took place at the Impact Hub in Geneva with some 45 people, old and new hands to KM4Dev. Organised as an Open Space, breakout sessions covered a wide range of subjects. Please see here the overview of resources from the social reporting team: Twitter #km4dev2017geneva (see overview in tagboard <https://tagboard.com/km4dev2017geneva/> or storify <http://bit.ly/2n5uc19>), Videos <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaR-chIMneHaYPIyvNLTBl5sJYcLz4O55>, Photos <https://flic.kr/s/aHskTsR7Mw> and a Blog <http://www.km4dev.org/profiles/blogs/km4dev-geneva-2017-what-a-success> produced by Cesar. This recap of resources is also available online, here » <http://bit.ly/2nGLGxb> In addition, you can see the developing reporting on the sessions in this Googledoc <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SV7AV5ONlrVfCfR6UJ_AAEAzUPn3hE8pUBBS88NUCio/edit#gid=0> .

The Knowledge for Development: Global Partnership Conference, organised by the UN Joint Inspection Unit, KMA, KM4Dev and others, was attended by more than 250 participants. The purpose of the conference was to review and advance knowledge management (KM) good practice in the field of sustainable development. It had a number of highlights:

1. The launch of a UN Joint Inspection Unit report on KM in the UN system <https://www.unjiu.org/en/reports-notes/JIU%20Products/JIU_REP_2016_10_English.pdf>. The report highlights KM best practices across the UN system, and makes recommendations on how to improve and integrate KM practices into the work of UN agencies. While focused on the UN, the report is probably required reading for all of us. There is also leaflet with a summary of the report which we also attach here. Given that attachments of a certain size are not always sent on by Dgroups, you may need to find it on the KM4Dev workspace <https://dgroups.org/groups/km4Dev-l>

2. The launch of the 3rd version - and first published version - of the Agenda Knowledge for Development <http://www.km-a.net/kma/wp-content/uploads/Agenda-Knowledge-for-Development-and-Statements.pdf>, complemented by 73 statements on the future of knowledge for development and knowledge societies. Many of the statements were provided by KM4Dev members. The publication was edited, designed and printed by a team at IFAD led by Helen Gillman, to a very tight schedule - thank you again for this!

3. The launch of the Knowledge for Development Partnership as a non-profit organisation with the objective of 'the global advancement of peaceful, wealthy, sustainable and inclusive knowledge societies and to foster global knowledge partnerships for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and successfully implementing Agenda 2030.' The Knowledge for Development Partnership is being formed as an international NGO under Austrian law - many conference participants signed a Partnership Declaration and some became members of this proto-NGO. The first General Assembly of the partnership was held during the conference.

There is a close relationship between KM4Dev and the K4D Partnership: many common values and common members. We hope that we can explore on the KM4dev list how our community of practice and the new NGO can be mutually reinforcing. All KM4Dev members will have the opportunity to join the Partnership as members, or to sign the Partnership Declaration. More news on this shortly when the website is online.

The discussions during the conference on KM in the UN system highlighted a number of key messages: (i) high-level leadership and management support for KM were emphasized by the participating organizations; (ii) KM must be embedded in all business processes of an organization, rather than treated as an isolated function or set of activities; (iii) KM strategies and action plans must have sufficient budgets; (iv) dedicated staff are crucial to drive the KM efforts in an organization; and (v) measurement of KM performance and results is crucial to demonstrate how it contributes to achieving an organization’s overall objectives.

The UN JIU report makes seven recommendations aimed at enhancing the role of KM in the UN system in the service of Agenda 2030. It should be noted that UN General Assembly Resolution 71/243 of the UN General Assembly (21 December 2016) calls on the United Nations development system “to introduce or strengthen knowledge management strategies and policies, with a view to enhancing transparency and improving its capabilities to generate, retain, use and share knowledge, and move towards a system-wide open data collaborative approach for a common and accessible knowledge base.”

The social reporting team was also active at the conference: on the second day, the campaign reached more than +160,000 twitter accounts and on each day there were some 100 people attending the conference via live streaming. Here are the links to resources from the conference: Twitter #k4d2017 Geneva (see overview in tagboard <https://tagboard.com/k4d2017geneva> or storify <http://bit.ly/2oBnEV1>), Videos <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaR-chIMneHaK2y5wtNZxh2xxFal31Njt> (recorded live-streaming and few participants’ statements); Photos <https://flic.kr/s/aHskX7Z3UN>; Presentations <http://bit.ly/2oPVwwF>; and a Blog <http://www.km4dev.org/>

There is also a further report of the conference <http://paepard.blogspot.nl/2017/04/knowledge-for-development-global.html> focusing on Day 2 on the PAEPARD blog produced by Francois Stepman, as well as coverage of Dgroups presentation <https://www.dgroups.info/2017/04/1457/> by Neil Pakenham-Walsh..

If you know of any further coverage of the conference, please let us know.

As members of the KM4Dev core team, it has been a great opportunity to be involved with this very exciting conference. We think we are at key moment in the development of our field: the launch of the JIU report, and also the UN General Assembly resolution, the new Agenda Knowledge for Development and the formation of the Knowledge for Development Partnership all point to increasing international attention to knowledge for development.

Kind regards

Andreas, Helen, Peter and Sarah

Andreas Brandner, Helen Gillman, Peter Bury and Sarah Cummings

Knowledge Market: dare-to-share

Bring your KM materials, we offer vertical boards and tables for display and informal networking during the breaks. Knowledge Market info, the market will move to the Conference on Monday.

Possible topics and suggested reading

• The UN Joint Inspection Unit published its 2016 study KM practice in the UN system and recommendations

Registration

Please register here to participate in the KM4Dev2017Geneva event on site or online, you can also indicate in the table your intention to participate in the separate K4D2017Geneva conference on 3 and 4 April.

Social Reporting join in!

Join the KM4Dev2017Geneva dGroup to stay informed and participate now, during and, after the events.

A dedicated dGroup discussionlist serves to inform and interact with all those interested to join preparations; up-front discussions; on site or online participation during this KM4Dev event and subsequent conference and; reflecting on it afterwards. Join us here KM4Dev2017Geneva dGroup.

More info on our social reporting programme.

Venue for the KM4Dev 2 April Open Space day

The KM4Dev Open Space day will precede the K4D Conference and take place on Sunday 2 April from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Impact Hub Geneva. The Impact Hub is strategically located on the north-west side of the railway station Cornavin.

Please note that we will not offer full scale catering (e.g. lunch) during the full day Open Space! You are therefore kindly requested to come with your own lunch pack and drinks, which you can buy (among other places) at the Migros supermarket in the nearby railway station Cornavin, which is open on Sunday.

Suggestions on Visa for Switzerland / France

We currently cannot offer official invitation letters. We hope the K4D Conference and KM4Dev programme and the fact that the conference is convened by the United Nations in Geneva may be sufficient for visa applications with the Swiss authorities. Swiss Visa information. Please keep in mind that if you wish to use accommodation in France, you may need a Visa for France as well.

Suggestions regarding accomodation

• Low-budget KM4Dev'rs may join Jaap & Peter at City Hostel Geneva. Peter J. Bury and Jaap Pels stay there in a shared 4 bed room.
• Booking.com tip: look for accommodation in Ferney Voltaire (France), it is cheaper and well connected by bus.
• Airbnb tip: look for (shared) accommodation in Ferney Voltaire (France), it is cheaper and well connected by bus.
• John Knox Center at walking distance of Palais des Nations.

Invitation letters and co-sponsoring your participation

KM4Dev currently does not have access to funding for qualifying participants from emergent (poor) countries. We suggest you explore relevant agencies and funding sources in your own country. As for providing an invitation letter to facilitate your Visa request, we will provide information soon about what we can provide.