Interview with Ann Waters-Bayer: of KM, social learning and rural innovation

Following the interview with Carl Jackson in March this year, I also had the pleasure of interviewing Ann Waters-Bayer on the same occasion, whom I just came across some weeks ago again around the workshop on Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa. Ann is agricultural sociologist with the ETC Foundation in the Netherlands and a well-respected author, …

Interview with Carl Jackson: of KM, social learning and creative design

I recently had the chance to co-facilitate an event dedicated to social learning together with Carl Jackson of Westhill Knowledge Group. Carl is a very good KM4Dev friend and a very knowledgeable person on knowledge management for development generally. He was front and centre in the organising team of the first ever annual KM4Dev event I …

Research, KM and multi-stakeholder processes: cross interview with Cees Leeuwis and Mark Lundy

Last week, I had the privilege of sitting with two people I’ve been following with interest over the past few years: Cees Leeuwis, Professor of Communication and Innovation Studies at Wageningen University and a lead thinker on multi-stakeholder processes and social learning processes involving research. Mark Lundy, senior researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture …

Profile of the social learning hero

Social learning is back on the menu. It’s always been around but somehow the social media age and the increasing recognition of the complexity we have to put up with all point forcibly to the social nature of learning. And social learning is no easy task. It means grappling with others, getting hands dirty in …

Social learning in climate change – Of buckets, loops and social LSD?

Last week, I had to facilitate one of the most challenging and interesting workshops in a long time: A very diverse group of researchers, practitioners and donors came together for the workshop organised by the CGIAR program Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The workshop focused on ‘communication and social learning: supporting local decision …

Portrait of the modern knowledge worker

The concept of ‘knowledge worker’ which Peter Drucker coined in 1959, is perhaps not so clear (as shown again in a recent LinkedIn discussion – access potentially limited) and can be understood at least in two different ways: dedicated and other knowledge workers. Dedicated knowledge workers are the persons whose job it is to organise ‘knowledge work’, in relation …

Walking my talk: “quick and dirty”… on the edge of knowledge

I have been an advocate of producing “quick and dirty” information for a while (see this post and that post). Offering that info, insight, experience out for the public scrutiny seems to me the best way to get good feedback from others and from the reality to refine it and come up with answers or better questions – …