2nd Knowledge Management Workshop in Stockholm 22-25 August, 2012

The Knowledge Management program of the Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) organized a four-day workshop in the week preceding the Stockholm World Water Week. The workshop gathered participants from eleven country programs that work towards the Democratic Economic Governance of the water and sanitation sectors, with support from the MDG-F and/or UNDP MDG GoAL WaSH.

The workshop took stock of the programmes’ achievements and impact on the ground, followed by a discussion of what activities and processes will need further attention and support in order to be sustained. In developing their roadmaps for sustainability, the programs also formed groups for mutual support around specific thematic concerns.

Special thematic sessions highlighted specific experiences on socio-cultural challenges and ways to overcome language and cultural differences when working with marginalized populations; human rights based approaches (HRBAs); and sector coordination. In relation to the latter theme, the case of how actors and actions are coordinated for the maintenance of water quality in the Stockholm area was presented and illustrated with a field visit to municipal stormwater treatment ponds.

The knowledge management effort emphasized the sharing of experiences of different programs, with an analysis of what can be learned and brought to bear on on-going governance processes in the home country.