New publication: Common Agenda Setting through Participatory Collaboration Mapping – a Knowledge Base-Driven Approach

A. de Moor (2018). Common Agenda Setting through Participatory Collaboration Mapping: a Knowledge Base-Driven Approach. In 16th Prato CIRN Conference 24-28 October 2018, Monash Centre, Prato, Italy.

Abstract:

Globalizing society faces an ever-expanding web of wicked problems. Community networks are at the heart of building the required collaboration capacity for achieving collective impact. One bottleneck is the process of common agenda setting among such widely diverging stakeholder networks. Participatory collaboration mapping can help build firmer actionable and conceptual common ground between existing projects, programs, and initiatives on which to base the common agenda-setting process in community networks. By jointly creating and aligning collaboration maps, stakeholders can catalyze, augment, and connect existing collective impact initiatives. To be scalable, this requires a knowledge base-driven approach. We introduce the CommunitySensor process model of participatory collaboration mapping for common agenda setting. We then outline the knowledge base architecture supporting this process. We apply the architecture to a case of participatory mapping of agricultural collaborations in Malawi. We illustrate some components of a knowledge base-driven participatory collaboration mapping process for common agenda setting: (1) working with a federation of collaboration ecosystem maps all sharing at least partially the same community network conceptual model; (2) building more actionable common ground through defining relevant conversation agendas; (3) discovering conceptual common ground through semantic community network analysis.

New publication: Learning 3.0 – Collaborating for Impact in Large Devt Organizations

Just published: Nancy White, Rachel Cardone and Aldo de Moor (2014). Learning 3.0: Collaborating for Impact in Large Development Organizations. In Knowledge Management for Development Journal, 10(3):21-37.

Abstract:

This discussion paper builds on the body of research and practice about technology stewardship originally explored in Digital Habitats, and on the findings from an initial probe into the experiences of five development agencies using collaboration platform technologies. The probe was conducted from September 2013 through February 2014. We propose a framework for looking at productive practices in selecting, configuring and supporting use of collaboration technologies in international development organizations by focusing on the opportunities that exist in the boundaries between different parts of a development organization and different kinds of interactions that lead to learning and development impact. We suggest that there is a very useful opportunity to expand this initial probe using collaboration pattern language and a complexity lens to develop a useful repertoire of technology stewarding practices for collaboration in international development with the goal of supporting greater impact of development work.

New publication: The “Kids’ Knowledge Base”: Connecting Junior Science to Society

Just published: A. de Moor  (2014), The “Kids’ Knowledge Base”: Connecting Junior Science to Society. In Proc. of Chi Sparks 2014, The Hague, the Netherlands. The Hague University of Applied Sciences, pp.108-111.

Abstract

Universities try to reinforce their connections with society in many different ways. Introducing children to science at an early age is an important part of this mission. The online “Kids’ Knowledge Base” is a key instrument for presenting showcases of various scientific fields to primary school children, thereby aiming to pique their curiosity. We outline the architecture and development process of the Kids’ Knowledge Base, and describe how it is increasingly being embedded in an ecosystem of online and physical tools, stakeholder networks, and activities. We show how it has been used since its launch in March 2013, and discuss how combining different modes of offline and online interaction helps to promote its overall usefulness and use. We discuss some applications and extensions of the current digital infrastructure and how these may help increase the quality and quantity of the online interactions with the knowledge base.

See also: Kids’ Knowledge Base, B@ttleweters.