Sarah Cummings

Dealing with Stigma: Experiences of Persons Affected by Disabilities and Leprosy

Persons affected by leprosy or by disabilities face forms of stigma that have an impact on their lives. This study seeks to establish whether their experiences of stigma are similar, with a view to enabling the two groups of people to learn from each other. Accounts of experiences of the impact of stigma were obtained using in-depth interviews and focus group discussion with people affected by leprosy and by disabilities not related to leprosy. The analysis shows that there are a lot of similarities in impact of stigma in terms of emotions, thoughts, behaviour, and relationships between the two groups. The main difference is that those affected by leprosy tended to frame their situation in medical terms, while those living with disabilities described their situation from a more social perspective. In conclusion, the similarities offer opportunities for interventions and the positive attitudes and behaviours can be modelled in the sense that both groups can learn and benefit. Research that tackles different aspects of stigmatization faced by both groups could lead to inclusive initiatives that help individuals to come to terms with the stigma and to advocate against exclusion and discrimination.

Beyond the conventional boundaries of knowledge management: navigating the emergent pathways of learning and innovation for international development

This paper explores the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and innovation management (IM) in policy processes. By describing and analysing the roles of researchers as knowledge and innovation managers in policy processes we also contribute to the debate on how researchers can enhance their effective contribution to policy processes. Empirical data for the paper were gathered between December 2008 and November 2010. During that period, two of this papers authors conducted participatory action research whilst supporting the Mozambican inter-ministerial Subgroup Sustainability Criteria in developing a sustainability framework for biofuel production in Mozambique. We conclude that KM and IM are mutually reinforcing and inextricably bound: KM can provide the basis for engaging in IM activities or roles, which may -- consequently -- create an enabling environment for more effective KM in policy processes. The active embedding of researchers in policy processes an action-oriented research approach and systematic reflection can enable researchers to continuously determine what (combination of) KM and IM strategies or roles can enhance the actionability of research in, and the quality of the policy process. To do so successfully, a process-based research approach and strategic management of the boundary between research and policy are key

The tip of the iceberg: tentative first steps in cross-organisational comparison of knowledge management in development organisations

This paper investigates the variety of knowledge management (KM) and learning policies and strategies that have been developed by various development organisations in the past decade. It draws upon over 30 case studies yet offers but a glimpse of the current reality because organisations are usually not documenting or publicising their learning-focused activities. The paper first sets the scene in terms of knowledge and learning strategies and provides a brief overview of various strategies and models being followed. After an analysis of the drivers of a knowledge strategy, the paper explores which elements are likely to be found within strategic approaches, and then concludes with a cross-case comparison, an outlook on trends, and issues for further research.

The state of the art on knowledge integration across boundaries: key findings and emerging future issues

This Community Note summarizes the background and findings of the two day seminar ‘The state of the art of knowledge integration across boundaries’ which took place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in January 2012. One of the impediments to development approaches is commonly felt to be the fact that the different knowledge domains of researchers, practitioners and policy-makers are not working together to create new knowledge for development. Hence cross-domain knowledge integration – understood as processes of knowledge co-creation linking domains particularly those of policy-making, science and practitioners – has received increased attention. This seminar aimed to tease out elements and principles that determine effective knowledge creation processes.

Development knowledge ecology: metaphors and meanings

This is a Community Note with a difference. Like most Community Notes, it documents a discussion which took place from 13 February until 10 March 2011 on the KM4Dev e-mail list but it also includes the blog post, and comments upon that, which started this discussion. It concludes with some reflections on the nature of the development knowledge ecology on the basis of this discussion. u2003u2003Metaphors are like improvised lanterns to explore the twilight u2003u2003u2003areas in the frontiers of our knowledge. (Sebastiao Ferreira)

Progress to date of the IKM Emergent Research Programme: synthesis, understandings and lessons learned

This article reviews the progress to date of the Emergent Issues in Information and Knowledge Management and International Development as it approaches its last year in 2011. Programme activities in terms of articulating specific issues, constructing a narrative and engaging more widely with the development sector are reviewed. What we have learned from the programmes activities in terms of key signposts are described: multiple knowledges; knowledge landscapes and the bridges between them; the importance of local content; implications of non-linearity; critiques of research for development; and the need to handle multiple knowledges. In a number of text boxes, different groups of work are described in more detail.

Critical discourse analysis of perspectives on knowledge and the knowledge society within the Sustainable Development Goals

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed to analyze discourses of knowledge and the knowledge society in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Discourse analysis is a collective name for a number of scientific methodologies for analyzing semiosis, namely how meaning is created and communicated though written, vocal or sign language. Employing a genealogical approach which locates discourses in the field of prior discourses, two prior discourses of the knowledge society are identified in the key document of the SDGs. The concepts knowledge and knowledge society are found to have a marginal position within the main policy document “Transforming our world,” adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. The techno‐scientific‐economic discourse is found to be dominant at the level of implementation and of goals, while there is some evidence of the pluralist‐participatory discourse at the level of vision and strategy. Analysis of some of the policy advice provided by international organizations and civil society indicates that more pluralist‐participatory discourses on knowledge were represented when the SDGs were being formulated. Developed countries and the corporate sector were very influential in determining the final text and were probably instrumental in excluding more transformational discourses and maintaining the status quo.

Using semantics to reveal knowledge divides in Dutch development cooperation: the case of Millennium Development Goals

The paper is a first effort at examining the potential of scientometrics analysis to the field of development in the expectation that this type of analysis will make general patterns of knowledge within development more visible. In particular, we assume that it will reveal information on these patterns and in particular on knowledge divergences and divides within the sector. Semantic maps make it possible to compare semantics across the three domains under study, and reveal implicit frames within them. This methodology is tested using a pilot study comparing the semantics around Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in three domains involved in development: policy, science and the mass media. In particular, it compares the semantics on MDGs in the website of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in scientific articles authored by Dutch scholars, and in Dutch newspaper articles. In conclusion, the semantic maps method provided fruitful insights into comparing the semantics of the debate around MDGs in the three separate knowledge domains involved in the debate.

The future of knowledge brokering: perspectives from a generational framework of knowledge management for international development

Knowledge brokering has a crucial role in the field of international development because it is able to act as a cognitive bridge between many different types of knowledge, such as between local and global knowledge. Much of the research on knowledge brokering has focused on knowledge brokering between research, policy and practice, rather than looking at its wider implications. In addition, there appears to be no literature on the future of knowledge brokering, either within or outside the development sector. Given the apparent absence of literature on the future of knowledge brokering, a discussion group was held with experts in the field of knowledge management for development (KM4D) in April 2017 to consider their opinions on the future of knowledge brokering. Their opinions are then compared to the generational framework of KM4D, developed in a series of iterations by researchers in mainstream (non-development) knowledge management (KM) and KM4D researchers. In this framework, five generations of KM4D with different key perspectives, methods and tools have been identified. Based on the inputs from the experts in the discussion group, the future of knowledge brokering practice in international development appears to resemble practice-based, fourth generation KM4D, while there is some evidence of the emergence of fifth generation KM4D with its more systematic, societal perspective on knowledge. Given that the Sustainable Development Goals are providing a universal framework which is relevant to both organizational and societal KM4D, a new systemic conceptualization of KM4D is proposed which brings both of these strands together in one integrated framework linked to the SDGs. The SDGs also support the call for a new knowledge brokering practice with a greater emphasis on brokering knowledge between organizational and societal actors.

From "having the will' to "knowing the way': Incremental transformation for poverty alleviation among rural women in Bangladesh

Short-term, linear, externally funded, project-based approaches to complex problems like womens poverty in rural Bangladesh are often unsuccessful. Taking a different approach, this paper documents a transdisciplinary action-research methodology that led to sustainable poverty alleviation for rural Bangladeshi women, gradual changes in gender relations at the household and community level and strengthened womens capabilities while simultaneously developing an approach to social entrepreneurship. Defining characteristics of this research process were clear articulation of objectives in which poverty alleviation always received priority, learning cycles in which women were the central actors of the research-action process, and fluid and changing leadership among different stakeholders at different stages in the process. The project demonstrates the strength of action-research in addressing complex challenges, such as poverty alleviation and unequal gender relations. Key lessons for development practice include the need for interventions that take place over a longer time-frame and for a vision of development that is not transformational but comprising small incremental, locally embedded changes and which recognises the role of social capital.