Knowledge Management (KM)

Objectives

• To set up working platforms for KM
• To increase awareness of the project and the focus areas among CT6
• To establish a community of practice in the region on the focus areas
• To enhance policy-making of the CT6 through the provision of decision support tools

The intended outcome of this project is strengthened cooperation among the CT6 on information exchange and decision making on costal and marine resource management.

KM framework and principles

The RETA values knowledge as an important resource for sustaining the CTI for food security and improved livelihoods in the region. Knowledge can be defined as the capacity for effective action ("what works"). Knowledge management (KM) involves sourcing or deploying at least four types of knowledge assets:

• people
• processes and structures
• stakeholder or support from outside the organization, and
• technology

so that they create value for individuals, organizations, communities, and countries in the CTI region. The RETA will strive to ensure that appropriate knowledge is available at the right time, at the right place, in the right shape, of the required quality, and at the lowest possible cost. This is the essence of KM.

To achieve the vision for KM in the CTI, the RETA will adopt an overriding KM framework that involves interactions and interrelationships among three components of adaptive and social learning, knowledge sharing and use, and knowledge creation.

The RETA will adopt the following KM principles to promote a culture of knowledge sharing within the CTI:

• a knowledge culture characterized by wide information distribution and shared responsibility for building knowledge;
• trust and respect among CTI stakeholders as equals and valuing collective decision-making and action;
• openness to mistakes in a rationale, positive way as part and parcel of ongoing learning and improving processes for the CTI; and
• commitment to shared CTI goals and respect for diversity in initiatives and ways of working in the region.

At the same time, the RETA will respect country protocols and intellectual ownership of data, information, and knowledge. It will build a strong country focus that can then shift to regional sharing where appropriate.

Key Stakeholders

Learning, knowledge exchange, and communication initiatives in the CTI will primarily be taking place within the initiatives of the CT6. Key stakeholders will include the following:

• National Coordinating Committees (NCCs) lodged in focal government agencies that have oversight over the implementation of National Plans of Action (NPOAs)
• researchers who would make up the science advisory committees (SACs)
• the development community
• policymakers and legislators
• civil society, including local communities and the private sector, and
• other champions engaged in marine and coastal activities within the CTI area.

Strategy

The idea is to facilitate horizontal and vertical integration of various ongoing marine and coastal resource management endeavors via multi-way communication flows toward a concerted CTI.

The RETA's KM and communication strategy will provide for capture, storage, and search facilities for information and database management, mindful that a full-functioning knowledge management system makes for 10 processes of:

1. capturing and storing
2. searching and retrieving
3. sending of critical information to individuals or groups
4. structuring and navigating
5. sharing and collaborating
6. synthesizing
7. profiling and personalizing
8. solving or recommending
9. integrating, and
10. maintaining.

Knowledge obtained from different sources and expert inputs from various ongoing government- and donor-supported initiatives would then be organized along the thematic areas covered by the SCTR.

Developing knowledge products for diverse stakeholders

• The RETA will engage key stakeholders in building up a State of the Coral Triangle Report (SCTR). The SCTR will provide the thematic areas for learning, knowledge exchange, and communication strategies, where the CT6 may feed into a regional platform of needs-based solutions exchange and peer mentoring.
• The RETA will build knowledge products around the integration of the three overarching themes of coral reef conservation, fisheries management, and food security into the CTI. Examples include policy briefs and appropriate modules/presentations for policymakers and events where policy recommendations may be discussed at various levels.

These knowledge products will help identify the potential benefits and costs of policy and management options. The RETA Team's outputs will show the economic benefits from adopting policies and management systems that build the linkages between these three overarching CTI themes.

Contact Person

Email Abbie Trinidad, Team Leader and Lourdes Margarita Caballero, Web Writer and Documentation Specialist