Title: Potential of Networking for building Capacity in the Nile basin Nile Basin Capacity Building Network
1Potential of Networking for building Capacity in
the Nile basinNile Basin Capacity Building
Network(NBCBN) Marriott Hotel, Cairo, 15 June
2004
Ir. Jan Luijendijk UNESCO-IHE, Delft Email
j.luijendijk_at_unesco-ihe.org Internet
http//www.unesco-ihe.org
2Contents of the presentation
- 1. Capacity building why?
- 2. Building blocks of a network
- 3. The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network
- 4. Capacity building components and instruments
- 5. The network development process
- 6. The future
- 7. Conclusions
3Capacity Building Why?
- In general
- Many projects have failed to deliver the expected
benefits - Lack of capacity of both individuals and
organisations - In the Nile region
- Lack of capacity to manage water in an integrated
manner (IWRM) - Uneven distribution of capacity within the basin.
- Little interaction among water professionals in
the Nile Basin
4Can networks support Capacity Building?
- To a certain extent, a human network can, since
- It gives people access to knowledge, information
and data - It goes beyond the organisational hierarchical
structures - It goes beyond geographical and time-zone
boundaries - It broadens the horizon of people
- It might create the fertile enabling environment
for the more valuable Communities of Practice to
emerge - However,
- Networks could also be loose networks in which
just data and information is exchanged and NOT
focusing on the knowledge in people
5Main building blocks of a professional network
- Providers and consumers concept
- Community of Practice
- Internet-based learning and education
- ICT-tools KM-platforms,Services and
functionalities
6Building block 1 Providers and consumers concept
- It is essential to know where and what the
problems are, - and to get access to places where knowledge is
generated - In both cases it is necessary to get direct
access to the main players in the field - the water professionals
- the local capacity builders
- This concept is applied in the NBCBN network by
focussing on both capacity building institutions
and the other water sector institutions
7Main building block 2 Community of Practice (1)
- Definition (Wenger and Dermott, 2002)
- Communities of practice are groups of people that
gather around a common interest or theme, and
deepen their knowledge by interacting on an
ongoing basis - Three characteristics
- A common topic, a domain, a sense of common
identity - A sense of connection and community, with members
that regularly interact trust is key - A shared practice, a set of frameworks, ideas,
tools information, styles, language, stories and
documents
8Main building block 2 Community of Practice (2)
- CoPs are becoming an important KM tool for an
increasing number of multinational corporations
(HP, BP, Chevron, Ford, Xerox, Shell, World Bank,
etc) - A CoP is one of the best models to share Soft
Knowledge - experiences,
- working knowledge,
- tacit knowledge
- The CoP model is especially attractive for
research groups and is an excellent model of
adult learning
9Main building block 2 Community of Practice (3)
- Communities of Practice are the places where real
value is produced through sharing ideas, insight,
information, experience and tools. - CoPs can consist of 5 to maybe 30 people drawn
to one another by a force that is both social and
professional. - In supporting CoPs we need to learn what
conditions foster their emergence and to create
an environment in which they can flourish.
10Main building block 2 Community of Practice (4)
- The focus should be on the communities that own
the knowledge and the people that create and use
it. - The main concept should therefore be
- to support and strengthen already existing
communities, - to promote and initiate an environment that
stimulates the creation of new communities the
NBCBN network - to generate additional value through making
cross-links. - CoPs form the foundation of our NBCBN network
11Main building block 3 Internet-based Learning
Education
- Learning, education training are less distinct
activities - ET focus more on learning through problem
solving - While professionals are destined to life-long
learning. - Principles of knowledge sharing, group learning,
collaborative working and e-learning can be
applied to both students and professionals. - The challenge for NBCBN is to continue to make
maximum use of ICT-tools for learning.
12Main building block 4 Knowledge management
platforms (1)
- Applying web-based KM-tools towards CoPs will
allow basic functions to be handled more
efficiently - True KM-platforms are providing a medium to
exchange and share ideas and thoughts - To realise the benefits of a KM-platform
- people need to share information rather than
protect it! - NBCBN is developing its own interactive platform
with an appropriate set of functions for each
CoP.
13Main building block 4 Knowledge management
platforms (2)
14NBCBN Dynamic web-site
www.nbcbn.com
15UNESCO-IHE water related networks
16UNESCO-IHE PoWER partnerships
- Birzeit University, Palestinian Authority
- Hohai University, China
- Human Settlement Management Institute, HUDCO,
India - Hydraulics Research Institute, Egypt
- Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores
de Monterrey, Mexico - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology, Ghana - Makerere University/Institute for Environment and
Natural Resources, Uganda - Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, China
- Regional Centre for Urban Water Management, Iran
- Sana'a University, Yemen
- Taiwan International Institute for Water
Education, Chinese Taipei - UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, The
Netherlands - Universidad Blas Pascal, Argentina
- Universidad del Valle, Colombia
- Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Indonesia
- University of Zimbawe/Department of Civil
Engineering, Zimbabwe - WaterNet, Zimbabwe
17Why the initiative for a NBCBNetwork?
- Since 1996 3-month training course and various
short courses on Hydraulic Engineering in River
Basins for professionals from the Nilotic States.
- Training groups of young professionals coming
with different political background and culture
fostered friendly relationships - A network could facilitate an even more intensive
co-operation between professionals from the Nile
region.
18The main concept
- The main concept on which the project is based is
to - create an environment in which professionals
from the water sector sharing the same river
basin would have the possibility to exchange
ideas, their best practices and lessons learned.
- Such an environment can best be established by
fostering a network through which education,
training, research and exchange of information
for and by professionals can take place NBCBN-RE
19The approach for building the NBCBN-RE
- The approach is to let the network develop
gradually - To create a number of focal centres located in
different countries within the region focusing on
different aspects of Integrated Water Resources
Management - For River/Hydraulic Engineering Egypt would be
the obvious country building further on the
success of the HRI-Regional Training Centre at
Delta Barrage - The project could well serve as a pilot project
for similar activities in other specialised
fields of water resources management.
20 NBCBN-RE network
21Institutional framework capacity building
Capacity
Building
22The future
- With NBI!
- NBCBN -gt Nile Net
NBI
Cairo Declaration
January 2002
NBCBN-RE
23The future with NBI
P I L L A R
P I L L A R
E
E
B
F
G
B
F
G
A
C
D
A
C
D
Socio
Socio
-
-
Capacity Building
Capacity Building
Applied Training
Economic Development, Benefit
Applied Training
Economic Development, Benefit
Nile Basin Regional Power Trade
Nile Basin Regional Power Trade
Confidence Building, Stakeholder Involvement
Confidence Building, Stakeholder Involvement
Nile Transboundary Environmental Action
Nile Transboundary Environmental Action
Water Resources Planning and Management
Water Resources Planning and Management
Efficient Water Use for Agricultural Production
Efficient Water Use for Agricultural Production
Networking
Networking
-
-
Sharing
Sharing
24NBCBN as pilot for the NileNet
25The NBCBN Focus
- Supporting inter-basin exchange among water
professionals - Direct strengthening the individual capacity of a
large number of professionals - IWRM specialized domains (next to IWRM
principles)
26NBCBN Approach
- Integrating Capacity Building components
Integrating Education, Training and Applied
Research - Linking CB institutions with Professional sector
institutions - Network as the main meeting place of
collaborative work - Applying the CoP concepts
- Stimulating involvement of experts in
multi-disciplinary regional RD activities - Sharing to a maximum the experiences of the
NBCBN-RE pilot
27Domain Fields within IWRM
28Research clusters
Hydropower
River and Hydraulic Engineering
River Morphology
Environmental aspects
River Structures
Flood Management
GIS and Modelling
29Communities of Practice
River and Hydraulic Engineering
30CoPs and project teams (PT)1
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
31CoPs and project teams (PT)2
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
32CoPs and project teams (PT)3
S
O
L
U
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
T
O
N
S
33CoPs and project teams (PT)4
S
Water Climate
O
PT
PT
L
U
PT
PT
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
T
PT
PT
O
PT
PT
N
S
PT
PT
34CoPs and project teams (PT)5
S
Water Climate
Water Climate
O
PT
PT
L
HydroPower
HydroPower
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
NEEDS OF SOCIETY
U
PT
PT
T
Flood Management
Flood Management
PT
PT
Inland navigation
Inland navigation
O
PT
PT
N
?????????
?????????
S
PT
PT
35Conclusions (1)
- 1 Strategic partnerships create the enabling
environment for co-operation - 2 Joint applied research has a high potential
for building capacity - 3 Capacity building networks should involve all
water sector institutions - 4 Networks should be open and easy to access
- 5 Networks require co-ordination
- 6 CoPs form the main building block of a
knowledge network
36Conclusions (2)
- 7 Networks should focus on already existing
communities - 8 Network and communities should clearly define
its domain - 9 Effective network and community coordinators
are key - 10Building distributed communities require extra
attention - 11Critical success factors for network and
community development - 12 Support to network development should lead
to sustainability