Knowledge management a practical inquiry into knowledge gap, local practice poster#320

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WEDC International Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Sustainable Development and Multisectoral Approaches
Munas Kalden
Technical Advisor, Disaster Preparedness Programme, (Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction) ,
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies/ American Red Cross, Sri Lanka Delegation.
62, Green Path, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Email: mkalden@amcrossasia.org munas.kalden@gmail.com
1
Knowledge Management as Integral Part of Sustainability
-A Practical Inquiry into Knowledge Gap, Local Practice
and Institutionalizing Community Memory
Abstract:
The knowledge management
is an integral part of sustainability
process. It becomes pivotal in any
community based development
project. The knowledge society
contributes to quality inputs and
cascades the benefits to the next
generations. It is an intellectual
heritage; it ought to be owned and
translated into development
activities by the beneficiary
community.
The capacity building, in the
most of development intervention,
has been used with limited sense.
The paper looks it in a broader
sense and the author discusses
existing ‘knowledge gaps’ palpable
in the development intervention
facilitated and funded by INGOs
and multilateral organizations.
When the projects come to an end,
the technical knowledge also goes
with them. Because, the absence
of institutional arrangement to
manage the knowledge. The less
focus lies in investing in
institutionalizing the local memory
as a tool of knowledge
management.
Based on the framework
developed by the author, in which
the knowledge management is sin
qua non component. It covers
promoting community practices,
managing community knowledge
and translating the community
memory into institutional practice.

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Munas Kalden
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The institutional arrangement revert
the knowledge to the beneficiary.
They (the community and state)
systematically promote and sustain
the impact of the intervention. A
knowledge society means of having
institutional arrangement for
managing the knowledge vertically
and horizontally.
Introduction:
Managing knowledge is a social
function. Thus is serves the society
which maintains it. This is not only a
tool of social mobility and stability;
but also an agent of social change
and social transformation. In order to
make a beneficiary community,
implementing agency and donor
organization learning institutions, the
most important task managers are
required to perform is to formulate a
strategy for knowledge management.
Having done that, the next step to
be adopted is to redesign the
present functional structure. This
may involve creating infrastructure
for sharing gained knowledge,
networking among the actors at
deferent levels: beneficiaries,
implementers and donors vertically
and horizontally. The focus is
sharing and managing knowledge
among and between the
beneficiaries on one hand, and
learning from them by the other
layers: implementers and funders on
the other hand. This encourages
interdependence among them. The
palpable gap is there is no
institutional arrangement.
Strategy and Behaviour
The measures to get adopted are
to transform the prevailing culture is
to manage knowledge is done with
prolonged approach: through
strategy and through behaviour. The
most of the project are project-
completion based not sustainability
based approach even though the
word ‘sustainability’, in many of the
projects, loosely used in the project
proposal to attract and secure the

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Munas Kalden
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fund from donors. The managers are
busy with time frame set to achieve
the indicators, rather than not
changing the vulnerable condition
into socially transformed
phenomenon.
This social transformation should
be viewed and planned in a bigger
picture of the sustainability approach
within the particular development
context; not merely based on
programme completion approach.
The frame work (figure: 1),
developed by the author, depicts the
bigger picture with the focus on
knowledge management.
Frame work for Sustainability of Community Based Development Projects. Source: Munas Kalden (2008)

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Munas Kalden
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Knowledge Management:
Characteristics
The working definition of
knowledge management is the
acquisition, storage, retrieval,
application, generation, and review
of the knowledge assets of an
organization in a controlled way
(Watson, 2003: 5). The project
interventions, at the community level,
have these elements. The gap is not
interconnected. The acquisition
takes place; the storage happens.
The ‘application’ has no linkage with
‘generation’. It goes alone. Any
lessons learnt in a particular
community endeavors has not been
incorporated. The intervention has
involved in generation of knowledge;
but less focus on institutionalizing
those elements with each other and
sharing with as many as possible of
vast acquaintances.
The act of managing
knowledge (rather than managing
the people that mange knowledge)
can be characterized by the
followings (Watson, 2003: 14):
1. acquire knowledge (learn,
create or identify)
2. analyze knowledge (assess,
validate or value)
3. preserve knowledge
(organize, represent or
maintain) and
4. use knowledge (apply,
transfer or share)
Knowledge Management:
Sustainability Features
The knowledge management
sustainability features, according to
the author, the following becomes
important based on the field
experience gained during the
professional engagement with the
international organizations as well as
National Ministries in the country
where the author comes from. The
features are operationally
interconnected; practically coincided.
In the sustainability aspect of the
knowledge management, there are

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not viewed separately. They are
given below.
Figure: 2
Integrated Knowledge Management
Approach, Source: Munas Kalden, 2008
promoting community
practices
Managing Community
Knowledge
translating the community
memory into institutional
practice
Promoting Community Practices:
The community managed
projects, in their intervention, for
instance, Community Based Water
and Sanitation (Watsan) as
well as Community
Based Disaster Risk
Reduction (CBDRR)
in Asian region much
focus and light thrown
on the promoting
community practices. They
use participatory appraisal tools
(PRA) in getting their involvement in
executing the intervention strategy.
The beneficiary communities, in the
region, are well internalized in using
the PRA tools.
Knowledge Management
promoting community practices
Managing Community Knowledge
Translating the community memory into
institutional practice
Leadership
Corporate Social Responsibility &
Volunteerism
Governance and Strategy

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Munas Kalden
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Managing Community Knowledge:
The operational gap is
palpable in this feature of knowledge
management. The community has its
own practices. They are well
communitized and personalized. But
nor managed. They keep managing
by the form of practicing: good and
bad. There should be a knowledge
management intervention.
Unlearning and discontinuing should
be managed. Learning involves
‘unlearning and discontinuing’ (Peter
Senge, 1990) as well. This feature
connected with the next feature
(translating community memory into
institutional practice) functionally.
When a community fails in
institutionalizing in its practices, it
begins of memory fading. Best
practiced would be practiced in their
day to day life akin to that of bad
rituals.
Translating the Community
Memory into Institutional Practice:
Kotter (1995) identifies
institutionalizing new approaches for
change and knowledge
management. According to him, the
change process goes through a
series of phases that require a
considerable length of time. He
delineated eight steps. Of them,
institutionalizing new approaches
also occupy significant place.
Knowledge exits in two forms:
explicit knowledge that can be
codified and tacit knowledge that can
not always be codified. If a
knowledge management is too
formalized, much tacit knowledge will
be lost. Thus knowledge
representation for knowledge
management system must be
flexible and discursive.
An Integrated Knowledge
Management Approach:
The figure: 2 above visualize this
approach. It tries to integrate the
content of leadership in the
knowledge management process.

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Knowledge Management: Gaps
and Challenges
Personal mobility Vs
Institutionalization
Linking the community
activities with the research
institutions
Networking and sharing the
best practices vertically and
horizontally
Recommendation:
Local ways of framing
development problems
Engagement with social
development knowledge seen
as an entry point to work with
government and international
development institutions
Strengthening the constitution
of an alliance between policy
makers, researchers and
international development
community
Building a new knowledge
society based on democratic
principles and civic
commitment.
Democratizing research by
drawing a greater range of
civil society actors into that
research process that has a
greatest likelihood of influence
within the society.
Building knowledge
infrastructure
Democratization of knowledge
Commoditization social
knowledge (linking local
intellectual) and
Generate knowledge for
evidence-based policy
Key Words:
Knowledge Management, Community Memory, Sustainability and Institutionalization
References:
1. Dunphy, Dexter; Griffiths, Andrew and Benn, Suzanne. (2003) Organizational
Change for Corporate Sustainability, Rutledge: London, New York.
2. Kotter, J.P. (1995), Leading Change: why transformation efforts fail. Harvard
Business Review, March-April, pp. 56-63.
3. Senge, Peter (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of Learning
Organization. New York: Doubleday.
4. Watson, Ian. (2003) Applying Knowledge Management: Techniques for
Building Corporate Memories, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers: London, New
York.

Knowledge management a practical inquiry into knowledge gap, local practice poster#320

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