This presentation was made during the ICT4ag conference held in Kigali, Rwanda form November 5-7, 2013. The presentation focuses on CPWF experiences in using ICTs to engage different stakeholders
Social Learning through ICTs: Solving complex problems using multiple tools
1. Social Learning through ICTs: Solving
complex problems using multiple tools
Michael Victor
Communication and KM Coordinator for Water, land & ecosystems
9. Lessons
Common problems and issue - find the right lever
Mix of tools are needed, cannot rely on only one: ICT,
face to face, group learning and action are all needed
Social learning is not technology transfer
all perspectives are important
Technologies, science are only useful when the address a
context specific problem
Co-diagnosis and co-create, and co learn
Power, conflict and equity are inherent – platforms are
not neutral – they aim to promote change so can be
disruptive
Notes de l'éditeur
These are called wicked problems because there is not one solution and there is multiple entry points and perspectives. It means that people have to work together to find joint solutions.
We have been talking a lot about the push technologies and getting things out to individual farmers. But ICTs and social media are also about co-creation of knowledge. Here I will give some examples of how we have used social tools (not only “icts” to bring people together to co-create knowledge)
In all our basins, we have worked through various platforms which bring people together:- They differ in scope, scale, processes and tools used and of course particapnts.
In the Mekong, information about dams is sensitive. Even though there is a Mekong River Commission, no government would agree to create a comprehensive map of dams/hydropower in the region. We did simply by having a lot of people spend weekends looking for reservoirs on google Maps. The result is the most comprehensive inventory of dams in the Mekong region. In a follow up phase we will open this up further for citizen to be able to add photos, information and other data related to the dams.
Several CPWF projects have been particularly successful at using models for integrated resource management at different scales at the farm level, the water control system level, and regional and national levels. Models can also help span the boundaries between sources and uses of knowledge to either influence particular decisions or to improve manager’s capacity for making decisions. However, only until recently, modellers and programmers worked in isolation. By using partiicaptorytoools, modeling becomes a useful tool when it leads to new insights or facilitates negotiations that help people make decisions.
Successful integrated management is a combination of scientific knowledge, institutional abilities and power balances that only local stakeholders are able to shape.