The first day during my stay in Nairobi, I participated in the CGIAR Workshop on "Knowledge Sharing in Agricultural Research". Beside interesting techniques for better sharing of tacit knowledge (chat show, Speed dating, World Café) - I know them all from my time as teacher at the German School, I experienced a real Dilemma on this workshop. Speaking about knowledge sharing might significate two totally different situations. The first: Knowledge Sharing between Researchers, this is a straightforward discussion and many things are to be said and to be done. For me one of the biggest problem is the publishing paradigm in scientific journals: only accumulation of knowledge counts, you have to report something new, you cannot comment and evaluate the results of your peers as long as you are not considered one of the big shots. This leads necessarily to NON knowledge sharing.
The second: knowledge sharing from research to application - farmers. Precisely think it is incorrect to speak here about knowledge sharing. it is knowledge transfer, bi drectional but always transfer. Here we need totally different mechanisms than in knowledge sharing on the peer level. There is a huge pressure from donors and from grassroot on research that it must serve the farmers: this is a difficult situation in which the danger is great that researcher do, for what they are not skilled to do (knowledge transfer) and then they will do bad science because they have no time left. But these are very personal considerations from an Ex-researcher who is not really in this business.

Knowledge Sharing CGIAR workshop

a) chat show

Simone Steiger, Sanjini deSilva, Enrica Porcari, Michael Hailu

Enrica: Difference Knowledge Sharing and Information Sharing. Only better way of communicating? That’s definitely included, but not limited to that. Going more upstream. Enormous knowledge in the CG centre, a lot of this codified, gene banks, but not clear how to share all the knowledge. Looking at pragmatic practical examples, instead of high level definitions of knowledge management and knowledge sharing

Sanjini: want to add some more on capitalizing on partners. there often a similar problem, challenge. Not enough interactions with target groups, decision makers, farmers, how can the research made more participatory and applicable.

Michael: traditionally researchers do research and publish and people focus only on getting most publications in high impact journals without looking at the impact. But it is more important to think about the impact, knowledge sharing to working together in a team, share the knowledge and enhance impact by problem solution. Technology now gives a lot of possibilities, but it can be done also without technology. And there are already some incredible results.

Simone: why no powerpoint, why different; we have to collaborate better, just to talk and to learn from each other, ks techniques to help, Why historically only powerpoint used as getting ideas to people. Breaking this rule will help to discover new ways of communication

Enrica; Chat shows we tried to introduce chat shows, but not very common, people want to hide behind powerpoints. Power point free zone. Power point you look more to the form than to the content.

Sanjini: IWMI used a number of knowledge sharing approaches, openSpace. no preset agenda, people can speak about what they want to speak, they can give ideas on cards to come to a more interactive approach.

Simone: OpenSpace is a technique that works, you have to know, first time in a big event, you need to ask people who did it before, because the creative caos mustn’t get out of hand. Democratic agenda setting.

Sanjini: it does not create more work in organizing a meeting, it is easier because you allow the participants to set the agenda.

The level of energy and enthusiasm is bigger in such meetings because a lot more people interact.
Michael: keything is to making it much more participatory, involving all people much more giving them the feeling that they own this. Instead of sitting the whole day and listening to presentations you can set the agenda and participate more actively. Opportunities to work across programs. to give people the possibility to speak about what mattered to them

Just new trend: research planning meetings, presentation after presentation, at the end of the week totally exhausted because of a lack of interaction. giving space to people.

Simone: whole range of techniques, any other technique: the best was peer assist, many ideas in a very short time. Creates a lot of trust and creates a base for future collaboration, they speak differently to each other.

Enrica: most excited about democratization process, everybody is put on the same level and can participate in the discussion. Peer Assist in the Senior Management of the CGIAR. There is trust now. Everyone faces problems, whom do you ask

Kenya: example of group discussion. People have particular knowledge about particulare problems that can be exchanged peer to peer, instead of top down.

Question to Enrica: where do you go from here

Enrica: Applying of good practices. Now people are excited, moving to a new phase, getting more people exposed to doing new things. Very pragmatic things, no budget, no clearance from management.

Susan (ILRI): Annual meetings in Addis and Nairobi. People were tired of how meetings were going. They started with hard talks” hard interviews with senior management. Never go back to the old meeting. Submeeting, every converted to normal, 4 people in the front spoke to 60 participants. Learning that people can speak openly, straight, A good scientist should not communicate in the normal way.

Enrica: C level executives. certain formalities for being taken serious, but we go beyond no, much more democratic environment. It is not productive to have only the same circles interacting among themselves.

Gender Issue? Michael: not just gender, also culture, in Indonesia many of the national staff do not feel as speeking up. Excellent role for the Information people because they are neutral to the research topic.

Lifelyhood network: bringing together academics, practitioner, policy maker, peer assist sessions brought a good opportunity to bring people together.

Farmer, Uganda: one of the problems of effective knowledge and information sharing is that scientists and acadamics have a great gap to the farmers. Now NARO has tried to go to grassroots, but still there is a gap. Also a farmer is a scientist in its own way, he experiments.

Horizontal and Vertical knowledge sharing. Getting knowledge to flow from network to network, being part of different networks inside and outside the organization, get other people to bring further the knowledge on a trajectory.
Examle.

Up and down is not knowledge sharing but information exchange, conflict comes up, because the researchers bring a different information to

Michael: Researchers trained in specific techniques, writing papers, knowledge sharing makes it easier to transport. Knowledge is what is in peoples head, how to be shared in a new way, not through traditional publishing. How a scientist can change his knowledge with decision makers, and farmers. .