Learning lessons

Slowly but surely the chosen approach, methods and tools used within the WASHCost project on knowledge sharing, information management, communication and IT use, start to bear fruit.

The first year was dedicated to the inception phase; taking stock of the local WASH situation, building networks and alliances. The second year revolved around the development of a research protocol. In the third year the research must be carried out and embedding of learning has to take place. Knowledge sharing, information management and communication will be much more prominent. In year four embedding and capacity building will be strengthened and in year five the decision support tools – the WASHCost legacy – must be shaped.

The challenge to contribute to the project effectively and efficiently from a knowledge management and communication perspective was to be timely in persuading staff to adopt new ways of working, of sharing, of managing information, of using IT; in short change of behaviour. The carrots are new and innovative and fun tools and methods for face-to-face events and use of IT. Getting dirty hands is the only practical way of learning how to do it.

This paper by Jaap Pels (IRC) addresses knowledge sharing, information management, communication and IT within WASHCost and includes pointers about how to choose, design, understand processes and apply technology. This is done along the below sections on various ‘no brainers’ and ‘statements’ or ‘explanations’, leading up to an amalgam (section 9) of how issues are addressed in WASHCost and some observations 18 months underway the project along issues on information management and ‘lessons learned by the KM pioneers’.

Life-cycle costs and tools for decision makers

WASHCost applies action research and initiates learning alliances to address the imminent lack of costing information on quality WASH services. At the end of five years an Internet based body of information must be available globally to support decision makers in the field of unit costs for WASHCost service delivery. Interactions between stakeholders are at the core of WASHCost. It follows that social learning, knowledge sharing and creating space for dialogue and joint reflection are essential to the project achieving its objectives. WASHCost is a human endeavour acknowledging that through sharing information, knowledge is ‘co-created’ or ‘re-created’. This means that what people and groups know from experience, they share with others, especially with those who need to make use of it. These interactions are at their most effective when they are face-to-face. However, this is not always possible in a four-country project with global ambitions, and the project thus makes full use of simple, intuitive, virtual and mobile tools.