Solution Exchange – a United Nations initiative Transforming knowledge into development effectiveness.

Solution Exchange – a United Nations initiative

Transforming knowledge into development effectiveness

Solution Exchange - a United Nations initiative

“Managing Your Community”Stage I & II Training

Solution Exchange Russia, 26-29 October 2010


Day 1 - Wednesday


Welcome to Solution Exchange


Welcome!• You are now part of a professional facilitation &

research service offered by the United Nations, managed by a Facilitation Team


We are…• Connecting development professionals across sectors

to help them to share knowledge & experience

• Enabling them to work smarter & strive towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)


Hello, my name is…Hi, my name is…I

am the Facilitator for the… Community…


Agenda10:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, 27 October

• Welcome to Solution Exchange • Introducing Solution Exchange• Understanding What SE Communities Do• Launching & Managing Your Community• Facilitating the “help” Service

10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, 28 October • Facilitating the “help” Service (continued)

10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, 29 October • Crafting a Consolidated Reply• Post-Launch Plan


How do we wish to proceed?


Any Questions?


Introducing Solution Exchange


Learning Objectives• At the end of this session you will be able to

– Describe what the “SE” initiative is

– Describe the organization of a SE Community

– Describe the management structure of a SE Community

– Explain why SE Community performance is measured


Solution Exchange combines 3 elements into 1 initiative:

1. Communities of Practice - build connections & pool together available knowledge & experience

2. Facilitation & research service - freely available to development professionals

3. United Nations association – impartial & global reach

What is Solution Exchange?

UNCoP

Service


Ongoing & Planned SE InitiativesOngoing Inquiries/Pipeline


SE Communities – Global ViewCommunities of Practice Country Communities of Practice Country

Maternal & Child HealthGenderWater DecentralizationDisaster ManagementFood &Nutrition SecurityWork & EmploymentMicrofinanceAIDSICT for Development Education Climate ChangeKarnatakaDevelopment Effectiveness

India““““““““““““

Pacific Ils

MDG (Development Community)AIDS &Young People Decentralization & DeconcentrationExtractive Industries Climate Change DamsMunicipalitiesUrban PovertyClimate Change & Disaster Management

Bhutan

ThailandCambodia

““Russia“Bangladesh (will launch in November 2010)“


SE connects national development professionals by creating “Communities of Practice” (CoPs)

• CoP brings together people with common interests, goals or passions, so can interact as a group & build connections, familiarity & trust

• Development professionals are organized around specific “Practices” within MDG thematic areas & national development priorities

Solution Exchange Communities


• Interact face-to-face & virtually(via a moderated email group), sharing knowledge & experiences to find solutions to daily challenge

• Come from a range of organizations & sectors…

Members of SE Communities


Benefits of Solution Exchange• Donors informed of country experiences & priorities

• Helps development practitioners achieve effective programmatic delivery& build capacity

• Promotes UN coordination

• Enables policy makers to consult Community members

• Helps researchers/ academics to identify relevant issues for further exploration & collaboration


Any Questions?


Organizational Structure of SE

Resource GroupCommunity Convener

Facilitation Team (FT):

· Community Facilitator· Research Associate

Community Members

UN Core Group

Coordination Unit/Team


Role of the RG


• Supports development of CoP

• Moderates mailgroup• Signs off on CRs• Advises Convener on

substantive issues• Collaborates with team• Contributes to sectoral

policy development

Role of Facilitation Team

• Provide sectoral & technical support

• Do research for CRs• Maintains workspace • Drafts CRs• Maintains member

lists; reports on performance

• Organize CoP events

Community Facilitator Research Associate


Measuring Performance

Value to community members• Number/growth of community members• Number of active community members• Balance of community membership• Number/growth of queries responded to• Mean of turnaround times per query• Satisfaction ratings of members

Contribution to development effectiveness• Number knowledge products generated• Impact of knowledge products generated• National recognition for “Solution Exchange” as influencing

development effectiveness


NGO

Multi – Bi Lat

Academic Govt

Pvt.

How to Use the Indicators

Co-Facilitators – WHO,

UNFPA & UNICEF

Secretariat – WHO India

3000 members from 33 States

& UTs

Distribution of topics along broad issues discussed in MCH Community (130 Topics, 2500 + Responses)

Issues %

Maternal Health 26

Newborn & Child Health 14

Nutrition 21

Adolescent Sexual & R. Health 5

MCH Service Delivery 34

Launch – April 2005

Visioning Workshop - Oct 05

Second Annual Forum - Feb 07 – MGIMS, Sewagram

Third Annual Forum - Mar 08 – Udaipur, Rajasthan

Guided by MDGs4 Reduce Child Mortality5 Improve Maternal Health


Key Results

• Community is alive- new members, ideas, queries

• Questions are getting responded to, in time

• Balance in the community is maintained – in terms of issues, geography & organizational type

• Participation rate is high & members are happy

• Products see as useful & suited to different audiences & members are using them/ impact


Summing Up: What did we learn?


15 minute Break


What SE Communities Do


Learning Objectives• Describe the “help” service

• Describe the “discuss” service

• Describe the “consult” service

• Describe the “collaborate” service

• Explain what a Consolidated Reply is

• List the two primary Solution Exchange meetings


What Do Communities Do?

Work together on projects

Discuss ideas, share suggestions, explore issues, provide solutions…

Organize meetings & workshops


Solution Exchange Services

Virtual brainstorming on

issue/topic

Further action (Action Group work or publication)

3. “Discuss”Priority issue/topic

raised for discussion

2. “Consult”

Request to comment on draft doc

(plan/policy/programme)

Comments on draft doc

“For Comments” CR issued

Knowledge gap or need identified

Action Group work commissioned &

carried out

Action research/pilot project produce “a derivative knowledge product”

4. “Collaborate”

1.“Help”

Ideas shared to answer query

Query Consolidated Reply (CR) issued

Questions asked

Document revised

based on CR inputs

“Discussion” CR issued


Help Service

Facilitation service for members to obtain advice, experiences, referrals, & resources/documentation from their peers to enable them to address challenges in their work (virtual Community activity)

“Help”

Ideas shared to answer query

Query Consolidated Reply (CR) issued

Query/Questions asked

Email message type – “QUERY”


Facilitation service for members involved with drafting projects, programmes, plans, polices & legislation to obtain feedback (“comments”) as an input towards revising/finalizing the document (virtual Community activity)

Consult Service

“Consult”

Request to comment on draft doc

(plan/policy/programme)

Comments on draft doc

“For Comments” CR issued

Document revised

based on CR inputs

Email message type – “FOR COMMENTS”


“FOR COMENTS” Sample


Facilitation service for members seeking insights on major/”burning” issues facing Community members, through a virtual brainstorming session – often the first step towards further action on the issue (virtual Community activity)

Discuss Service

Virtual brainstorming on

issue/topic

Further action (Action Group work or publication)

“Discuss”Priority issue/topic

raised for discussion

“Discussion” CR issued

Email message type – “DISCUSSION”


“DISCUSSION” Sample


Small-group work sponsored by a Community member, which creates wide ownership in the Community:

• Action Groups are formed to produce a quick, strategic deliverable designed to contribute towards the overall

objectives of the Community (i.e. project proposal, strategic plan, pilot project or action)

Collaborate Service

“Collaborate”

Knowledge gap or need identified

Action Group work commissioned &

carried out

Action research/pilot project produce “a derivative knowledge product”


Action Group Working - Sample

Action project presented during a SE workshop

Action group produces “knowledge product”

Action group meets & works on project


Solution Exchange Products• Consolidated Reply (CR)

- a brief synthesis of the responses received together with the experiences shared & resources recommended presented in a standardized template

- Branded knowledge product

• Other Products– Community Updates– Derivative Products– Newsletters


Consolidated Reply - Samples


Community Update - Samples


Solution Exchange Meetings• Community Annual Forum

– National level meeting for members to explore forward key strategic priorities & take them forward by working collaboratively in small groups (AGs)

• Regional Workshop– strategic outreach meeting to increase membership

from an underrepresented member type & increase awareness on SE in a specific geographic area

• Other Meetings– Knowledge Sharing Events & Promotional Booths


Meetings - Samples

Community Annual Forum

SE Promotional Booth

Regional Meeting


Any Questions?


Lunch


What Happens in a Discussion?


Current & New SE Russia Services


Query vs. e-Discussion?“help” Service

• Seeks solutions to specific problems that address larger issues

• Engages all practitioners in a CoP specific to their experiences

• Experience & solution focused

• Often leads to collaboration, identifying & network building

• Impact at specific levels

“discuss” Service

• Seeks insights on major issues concerning the CoP

• Energizes CoP by giving a wide platform for more free-wheeling discussion

• Controversial issues can be taken up

• Often discussion on a priority topic leads to a publication/actionable project




Launching & Managing Your CoP


The Solution Exchange Brand


Launch Process




15 minute Break


Facilitating the “help” Service


Learning Objectives• Describe how the “help” service works

• Explain the four parts of a query

• List the four query types

• Describe what a “mechanical” & “substantive” review of a response evolves

• Demonstrate ability to write clear, concise & direct question statements

• Demonstrate the ability to edit a response & write an appropriate Moderator’s Note


“Help” Service• Core service provided by the Community

– “bread & butter”– where community interactions start

• “Help” service – caters to member’s specific ‘Knowledge Needs’ – enables members to raise the Community’s “burning” issues– builds & maintains Community energy levels – sets the pace of Community interactions (slow, fast…)


Help!Help!

Help!

Help! Help

!

Help!

1. Query Sent to Members

Facilitation Team


Try this

I did this

Read this

Contact her

Desk Research

2. Members Respond to Query

Facilitation Team


3. FT Prepare & Post CR

Cons. Reply

Thank you!

To the Solutions

Bank

Moderation Team


1. Context

2. Issue

3. Question Statement

4. Closing Statement

Four Parts of a Query


• Opening –greeting & explains in a clear & compelling way the context (“environment” where the question comes from):

• Gives query poser’s background/work they do & explains reason the question(s) is being asked

• Helps members determine if the info shared will be used by query-poser in practice (“is if compelling?”)

Context (part 1)


Context Sample


• Describes the situation on the ground & the real challenge being faced (explains “the mountain to be moved” )

• Give members enough of a picture of the situation or issues to provide a relevant reply

• Weave context in first paragraph into issues in next paragraph & lead to question statement

Issue (part 2)


Issue Sample


• Focus on finding out what the real problem being asked – so know what needs to be asked

• Simple & easy to respond to

• Clear & concise

• Limit number of questions to 3 or 4

• Many ways to structure a question statement

• Open questions, better than closed ended questions

Question Statements (part 3)


Framing Good Questions


Question Sample


• A personal statement at the end of the query, explaining “how” the query poser plans to use the information (another way to get respondents interested & engaged) & signs off (“bye”)

• SE is collegial & non-hierarchical - all messages only include:– name of the query poser– no designations or titles– organization they work for (or a description of what type of work they do) & location

Closing Statement (part 4)

Bye,

thanks

for all the

help!


Closing Sample


Any Questions?


Day 2 - Thursday


Facilitating the “help” Service


QUERY: [subject of query] - [query type]. Reply by [date]

• “Query” is one of the seven types of email messages used by SE

• Each type represent a different category of message –telling members what to expect, they include:– DISCUSSION– FOR COMMENTS– CONSOLIDATED REPLY– FOR INFO– QUERY

Email Message Type



• Describes what the query is about

• Should provide maximum amount of information in the shortest amount of space:– Clear (what the query about)– Concise/short– Use technically correct, commonly understood terms

(try to avoid acronyms) & key words

Query Subject


Email Inbox


Query Types


• SE Communities use four query types:– Experiences: seeking where something like this has

occurred – Examples: seeking documentation on ideas, systems, creative works or other intellectual property– Referrals: seeking contacts or expertise to follow up with– Advice: seeking thoughts & insights from members, including lessons learned



• Tells the reader when the period for responding to a specific query ends - CR should be issued within a few days after the query “closes”

• Time between when query is posted & when the CR is posted is the “turn-around time”

•

• Period between when the query is posted & the “reply by date” is the “discussion period”

Reply by Date


• Check with query poser to decide on “reply by date”

• Decide what “track” the query will run…A “urgent”/quick turnaround time - 5 working daysB normal turnaround time – 10 working daysC extended turnaround time 15 working days

Reply by Date

Track ATrack B

Track C


• For Track A: Urgent– QUERY: Urgent- Reply by 5 March 2010. Material for

Integrated Water Resources Management Course - Referrals; Examples

• For Track B: Normal– QUERY: Material for Integrated Water Resources

Management Course - Referrals; Examples. Reply by 11 March 2010

• For Track C: Extended– QUERY: Request for Integrated Water Resources

Management Materials- Referrals; Examples. Reply by 20 March 2010

Email Examples

Solution Exchange - a United Nations initiative 81

Process of Framing a QueryFrom: Akhteruzzaman Sano Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 10:13 AMTo: Climate Change CommunitySubject: RE: [se-cc-kh] QUERY: Good Practices of Aid Effectiveness in Climate Change- Experiences. Reply by 30 September 2010

Work with query poser to frame query

Finalize query w/ query poser

Decide on subject, type & date

Consult w/ team members

Send query to members


“form” for Reformulating a Query1. (your introduction) I am ____ working in _____ on _____.

2. (The context of your query) I am working on XYZ project/ area/ etc.

While working, this is a situation I faced/ this is the background of the query I want to raise.

3. (Your questions) I request SE-Water members to please share with me the following: a) Examples from the field, which show a clear economic impact on communities/

households which have improved their sanitation conditions. (just an example); b) XYZ (maybe you want to add more questions); & c) XYZ2

4. How this information will be useful to you & members, (in short why they should respond & how would you use their contributions?).

Member’s NameOrganizationLocation


• Posting the same query simultaneously on two CoPs, in order to get contrasting & complementary perspectives

• Rule of thumb- Query could have been posted by either Community– Use judiciously (don’t burden members w/ lots of

emails)– Share work between CoPs (‘Primary’ & ‘Secondary’)

Cross-Posting a Query


Multi-Angle View of a Topic


Summing UpSumming Up

• “help” service is the basis of all SE interactions & needs to provided in a consistent & professional manner, which entails framing good queries

• Community vibrancy is maintained by a constant flow of well crafted queries

• Process of framing a query• Help query poser frame the query• Ensure the query has the 4 parts• Set the “reply by date”• Consult teammates, then post to Community


Exercise 11. Read the draft query.

2. You have to revise the questions. When revising the questions keep the following points in mind:• Are the questions “open” to allow for discussion on the

issues involved?• Are the questions clear, promoting a focused discussion

the issues/topics?

3. Tomorrow, you will share your revised question statements with the rest of the group.


Any Questions?


15 minute Break


Role of Facilitator


Facilitator Promotes Participation • Communicate & listen to your members

• Respect your members – members trust you w/ their reputation

• Encourage members & help them respond to the discussion (sourcing responses)

• Recognize positive & useful contributions

• Say “Thank You” (its free & takes less than a second)

• Foster a collegial egalitarian, constructive culture


Promoting Participation (continued)

• Wear your practitioner’s hat from time to time

• Know your members & be prompt when responding to a request

• Be transparent in you approach - No one is hurt but the issue is not masked


How Moderation Process Works

Member sends email to Community email id

Email arrives in Lyris

FT get an email informing them a message is in Lyris & requires “moderation”

FT “moderate” the message & send moderated message as email to Community email id (Lyris)

Email received by Lyris, FT “approve” the email & Lyris sends it to all Community members


Moderation SkillsModeration Skills

• The main way you will animate & guide your Community is through effective moderation

• You can use a range of moderation tools & techniques to effectively manage your Community, including,1. Reviewing & editing responses - two types of reviews

(mechanical & substantive)2. Using Moderator’s Notes – a tool for interacting with

your members3. Keeping discussion on track4. Posting anonymous responses


Reviewing & Editing Responses

Remember the Membership Agreement, rule 5: “To ensure adherence to the above rules, messages

sent to this mailgroup go first to the mailgroup moderator, who is responsible for reviewing & approving messages to be posted. In carrying out these functions, the moderator reserves the right to edit &/or withhold messages that are found not to be appropriate for posting.

Before a message is withheld or heavily edited, the moderator will notify &/or consult with the sender.”


Mechanical Review• Review/check the response for...

– appropriate formatting (not in all Caps, correct font, etc.)

– spelling & basic grammatical mistakes (don’t want to embarrass anyone)

– Check no personal info or designation included

– look for opportunities to “add value”


Substantive Review• Review/read the response to see if it is appropriate to

post or not (i.e. responding to the discussion questions, not defaming anyone, etc.) meaning– determine if changes are needed to make it more

constructive, if yes, work with the member to edit the response (try to do as little editing as possible)


Editing ResponsesEditing Responses

• Convert to constructive criticism – can make a “response sandwich (“yes, but”/“however, I have a different opinion”)

• You must get the member’s approval if editing changes the meaning of the response (Rule 5)


Using Moderator’s Notes

• Editorial note written by the FT, precedes message

• Primary way to regularly communicate w/ members – includes a bit of your personality & sets tone for Community’s interaction (formal or informal)

• Use Community’s colors – primary & secondary


Samples

Moderator’s Note: Dr. Harikumar’s response offers his view on the nomenclature of Behaviour Change Communication, which may be of interest to the Community. BCC as a concept can be another excellent topic for debate; however, for this query we encourage participants to continue sending in their examples and experiences. Thanks.


Samples

Moderator’s Note: The discussion on stigma and discrimination has been very good. As, all good things must come to an end, we would like to wind up the discussion after posting the last few responses and follow up with some action as suggested by Mr. Jana in his last paragraph.


Samples

Moderator’s Note: We have received a letter from Ms. Paik that acknowledges the good response received to her query on ICT and HIV.


Samples

Moderator’s Note: In the light of the seriousness of the issue of providing space to women equal to men in times of transition on account of development induced displacement, members desired that a longer time span is required for wider consultations. Hence, we would like to extend it to 24 November.


Samples

Moderator’s Note: Mr. Kumar’s reply to this discussion posted on 24 January 2010 had a typographical error. “Social Health Agent (ASHA)” should have been “Accredited Social Health Activist.”


Samples

Moderator’s Note: Apologies for providing a wrong link for the executive summary in the previous mail from Ruben, which is now corrected and appended.


Any Questions?


Lunch


On Track?


Allowing Anonymous PostingsAllowing Anonymous Postings

• Members can post anonymously, if their response contains a sensitive issue, concerned about “getting in trouble”, &/or perceive a threat for discussing an issue

• Remember to remove all identifiers – such as name of member, name of organization, location, etc.


Sample Dear all,

One disadvantage of committee as I see from my personal experience is that some time corrupt people will be incorporated in to committee. Non-corrupt people after some time stop coming to meetings as there concerns are not recorded or taken into account. Taking account of my current position, I can't point to any single situation. As I have witnessed nearly 100+ committees formed in our own organization & outside the organization. When a committee is formed involving only members of the organization people will usually agree with the chair who usually dominates....

Anonymous


How will you manage CoP traffic?


Too Few ResponsesToo Few Responses

Possible reasons for members not responding…• Busy season (i.e. end of the financial year)

• Holiday season (i.e. major religious festival)

• Too many things going on (i.e. lots of events going on in the sector)

• Members missed responding (email overload)

• Discussion questions not compelling (members don’t see “reason” to respond)

• Really technical discussion questions (not enough members capable of responding)


Ideas for Encouraging Messages


15 minute Break


Too Many ResponsesToo Many Responses

• “its raining responses” - be happy members find the topic interesting/relevant

• However, be careful not to overwhelm members w/ too many message (members often complain about “email overload”)


Ways to Cope w/ Many ResponsesWays to Cope w/ Many Responses

• Post a couple messages together (“multiple response”), especially if very general or a bit off track

• If two responses from the same person come close together & you haven’t already posted the first response, club the responses together in same posting

• If the “reply by date” has passed & messages keep coming, quickly & firmly announce the query is closed, using a Moderator’s Note - stress the need to move on allow for the other discussion topics


Responses Too Long• Members normally do not like long emails, try to limit

replies to 1 page (1 scroll down)

• Helpful conventions for dealing with long messages:• Prepare an abstract of message, highlighting salient

points, & provide a link to the full message

• Edit response to reduce the number of “unnecessary sentences,” repeated points & side comments, to focus on “question statements” - not broad issues

• Don’t post long articles in a message - link to the article & write short abstract/summary describing it


Damage Control MeasuresDamage Control Measures

• Nobody is perfect… mistakes happen… question is what do you do?


Minor Damage - Sample Moderator’s Note: The material in the posting by Dr.

Singh to the appended query was from the document "Condom Programming for HIV Managers" by UNFPA, WHO and PATH. In the original message this was not stated. The error was discovered during while preparing the Consolidate Reply. We here by retract the message posted from the discussion on the “Query: Condom Usage by Sex Workers” and the document will be considered as a recommended document from Dr. Singh in the ensuing Consolidated Reply.


Way to Deal with Serious Issues1. Contact your Project Coordinator, explain the

situation (maybe you had a good reason to post it).

2. You & the Coordinator should alert the relevant agency heads &/or focal points to inform them of the damage control steps underway & apologize.

3. In case the accused was someone high profile, have the Head of Agency (or someone on their behalf) contact the office to warn them of the message & offer a retraction, apology to mitigate the situation.


Way to Deal with Serious Issues4. The Coordinator should write to the offending

member citing the membership agreement, explain that it was posted in error, & suggest they desist from making similar inflammatory/rude/critical contributions in future.

5. Sometimes it also appropriate to use a Moderator’s Note to explain some or part of the situation to the Community.


Protecting Intellectual PropertyProtecting Intellectual Property

• Check the attachments, most of the time there is a web link somewhere, cite the source

• Check the responses that look too good to be true, or has tables & graphs –

most of the time they are copied from some source & forgot to cite it

• When in doubt write to the member & ask them to check if it ok to post the material or not


Creative Commons License• Under this license members can share (copy,

distribute & transmit the Community work) & remix (adapt the Community work) if they:– Attribute the work in the manner specified by the author

or licensor– Do not use the Community work for commercial use– If altered, transformed, or built upon, members may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license (allows reuse with attribution)


Exercise 21. Using what you have learned about “moderating”

responses,” rework the response to make them a more constructive.

2. For each response, you also need to write a moderator’s note to include when posting it.

3. Keep track of all the things you checked when reviewing each response (“mechanical” & “content”).

4. During the next session, you will present your “moderated” response & Moderator’s Note to the rest of the team & explain what you did.





• Main way you can animate & guide your Community is through effective moderation

• Moderating a response involves two types of reviews – mechanical & substantive

• Your can use a range of tools & techniques to effectively moderate their Communities:• Editing responses• Using Moderator’s Notes – a tool for interacting with

your members• Keeping messages on track & concise



• Allowing for anonymous postings• Managing network traffic – not enough or too many

messages or too long• Damage control – dealing with mistakes & problems• Protecting intellectual property & Creative Commons


Summing Up

• Your core work with the Community will be:• moderating the responses received• encouraging members to actively participant by

providing constructive inputs to answer the discussion questions

• You will develop a relationship with your members, by:• being alert to ways members relate• ensuring everyone has an opportunity to be heard• managing conflicts & building trust• help members as much as possible (responding to

requests w/ “no problem”)


Day 3 - Friday


Exercise 1 – Debriefing


Any Questions?


Exercise 2 – Debriefing


Any Questions?


Crafting a CR


Learning Objectives• Describe the role the Summary plays in a CR

• List the 3 basic elements of a CE

• Describe four basic ways CEs are identified

• State the 4 common elements of a Related Resource

• List the 9 Related Resources sub-sections

• Describe when to include “Additional Material” section

• Describe when to issue a Revised CR

• Describe how to deal with offline contributions


What is a Consolidated Reply

• Standardized, structured compilation of members’ inputs along with supplemental research (value addition by Facilitation Team)

• Provides a brief synthesis & analysis of contributions received, list of contributors with their individual contributions

• All queries, e-discussions & e-consultations result in a CR

• Connects members to both knowledge and provider of knowledge


Knowledge Repository

Search Go Advanced search

Member List

Solutions Bank Consolidated Replies

Experiences E-Discussions Knowledge products

Community Resources Contacts & experts Organizations Communities; networks Documentation Portals & info bases Tools & technologies Events Training & education

Archives Community archives Mailgroup archives Members’ self-archives

Keyword Search

Solution Exchange-Community Homepages

Home | About us | How to… | The mailgroup | Group space | Tell us… | More Communities

Welcome to Solution Exchange for the Water and Environmental Sanitation Community

in IndiaWe are a group of professionals from a wide range of organizations and perspectives who are dedicated to strengthening the institutions of local self-goverment in India

Resource Person: Alok Srivastava

Community highlights [date][What’s new; features; etc. (from the moderator)]

Queries & e-Discussions[Query:…… closing date][e-Discussion….closing date]

Welcome new members A hearty welcome to our newest members:[Mr. xxx, ….]

Community Facilitator:

Share with the Community

Submit your item

Events• [Headline ] from

[member] [date]

Job opportunities

Training opportunities

Partnering opportunities

Readings; multimedia

English | Hindi | Tamil

Sign in: Username_

or Subscribe Password_

Solution Exchange is a UN initiative for development practitioners in India

| Terms & Conditions of Use |

| Site map | Contact us |

We offer members “some rights reserved” copyrights (click here)

We offer members Self-Archiving facilities. (click here)

You are viewer: 1035Home >

Screenshot 1. Home page for a Community – draft 27/3

Water and Environmental Sanitation Community



Member List





Keyword Search



Member List





Keyword Search

Cons. Reply

CRs & Knowledge Repository


Sections of a CR

1. Query (discussion issue paper/consultation draft)

2. List of Respondents

3. Summary of Responses

4. Comparative Experiences (CEs) (optional)

5. Related Resources (RRs) (optional)

6. Responses in Full

* One rarely used, optional section - Additional Material











Email Message Format

CONSOLIDATED REPLY: [Subject of query] – [Type of query]

• Subject of query & type of query- same as query subject & type posted for query

CONSOLIDATED REPLY: DISCUSSION [Subject of discussion]

CONSOLIDATED REPLY: FOR COMMENTS [Subject of consultation]


Any Questions?


15 minute Break


The Facilitation TEAM


I am replying to your query based on an ongoing research that I am onto regarding agriculture infrastructure. What I find from

this exercise is that Agriculture Infrastructure in the country is woefully short and inadequate to serve demand (often said

repetitively) There is a multiplicity of agencies providing incentives for infrastructure development Agri Infrastructure has been

addressed in piecemeal and is largely product centric. (mostly for potatoes actually). This brings seasonality risks into the business

for any entrepreneur which in turn limits investment exposure. End game is smaller, scattered and generalised infrastructure

(example 92% of the cold storages in the country are meant for potato and only 0.2% of the total cold storages are capable to

handle F&V. Of this more than 80% are in Maharashtra). Costs are high dissuading farmers from using the facilities. This in turn

leads to smaller middle men cornering the market and ultimately farmers falling prey to their cartels.

Currently farmers are not hooked on to the market. They don't know what to produce. This leads to skewed (over) production which

in turn leads to farmers being exploited by middlemen. This chain of middlemen (who account for more than 55% of the final retail

costs and add less than 15% of value) in the entire value chain needs to be reduced. And this is possible (not entirely... but still)

through participation of the non government sector / farmer SHGs.

Creating small cold storages will not be the solution and will be a repeat of what has been happening all along. These initiatives are

not lasting and do not have the desired impact. Moreover for peri urban agriculture, creating an infrastructure is really not required.

Harvest what is required!! Being peri urban is the advantage here. Instead the farmers need to agglomerate and produce what

sells.

Probably the Kerala Horticulture Development Programme (KHDP) model can be studied here.

Sifting through a Response


4 Key Features of a Summary

1. Provides an answer to the query• Straight, good answer - making sure all questions are

covered & doing justice to the responses (drawing out key elements)

2. Readability & content “flows”• Be precise & concise• Use clear language - avoid using jargon• Maintain the connection/link between paragraphs


4 Key Features of a Summary

3. Has a balanced tone presenting members’ views• Narrative style in third person with active past tense,

third person – avoid passive voice• Not prescriptive – no ‘should’

4. Needs to be well organized & logically structured• Opening paragraph sets the tone• Body – presents the points, answers the questions,

judiciously uses ‘bullets’, ‘bookmarks’, ‘bold’ & subheadings

• Ending/closing – summarizes, not conclusive


3 Basic Parts of a Summary

1. Opening- usually makes a brief reference to the Query & then explains the nature & range of responses received, describes the issues being discussed & outlines the points that will be covered in the body of the summary



2. Body • Brief, clear, meaningful abridgement of responses &

maintains the tone of the responses

• Good formatting can making the summary appear well-organized & inviting, helping

the reader to easily grasp its meaning & substance



3. Closing /Ending• Sums up summary to emphasize the thrust of the

arguments or key recommendations presented

• Can also identify gaps in the discussion & suggest discussing the topic in

more detail in the future

• It’s a “bookend” – holding all the ideas together


Comparative Experiences

• Section after the Summary of Responses - expands on points/experiences mentioned in the Summary

• Little case studies, with enough information to arouse interest of reader


3 Basic Elements of a CE

1. the situation – what they found

2. the intervention (activities) – what they did

3. the outcome (what happened) – what was the result


Title– Explains/Describes what the CE is about– Must have a heading – title, place– Systematic

Structure– Can categorize experiences (i.e. by location or type)– Arrange by priority/importance– 3-5 lines in length– Recommender name linked to Full Response, and if

there is a resource, then link (“Read more”) to Related Resource

Features of a CE

Features of a CEFeatures of a CE


• Captures the salient aspects of the story in a readable manner

• Follow up to get enough info to draft a CE– Call/email member to get more information– Desk research to compensate for dearth of information

• Four ways to identify a CE”1. Directly from the response2. Culled from a long response3. Looking for the “story”4. From a resource shared by a member

Ways to Identify a CEWays to Identify a CE


P. Gupta, Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor, Barrackpore The Kolkata Urban Services Poor programme of the Govt. of West

Bengal,funded by DFID, can be a very good case study. The programme aims

atimpacting the lives of the urban poor through better urban

governance. We are preparing a Development Plan for each of the Urban Local Bodies

(ULBs) involved, & all plans have linkages to livelihoods for the poor. You can

see thework we are doing in our slums where the BPL women's' community

based organisations are directly linked to all development including

construction activities. There is a clear focus on capacity building and on securing

a betterdeal for the poor as we try to turn around our municipalities into

efficientorganisations capable of attracting investments on their own. Being

involved in the programme myself, I invite you to visit the project area. Find

more details at www.changekolkata.org

Directly from Response

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.changekolkata.org/



West Bengal

Kolkata Urban Services Program Involves the Poor in Planning,

Calcutta (from P. Gupta, Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor, Barrackpore)

The Govt. of West Bengal with funding from DFID is trying to improve the lives

of the urban poor through a better urban governance program. They are

preparing “development plans” through community participation working with

the local Urban Local Bodies. All the plans have linkages to livelihoodactivities for the poor. In slums, the program links all BPL women’s

CBOsdirectly to capacity building and construction activities, enabling the

poor tohave control over the local planning process. Read more

Directly from Response


Rohini Mukherjee, Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad

This is in response to concerns raised by Mr. J.S Deepak in his mail to the Education Community on June 15, 2006. We, at Naandi Foundation, during our

quality education interventions in Hyderabad, found schoolchildren suffering from highly prevalent ailments that were adversely affecting their development.

This led to the conception & launching of our School Health Programme about which I would like to share some details with the members.

Naandi Foundation School Health Programme - Background: A hungry child or a sick child is not a learning child. Dental problems, worm infestations,

malnutrition & eye infections/problems are some of the leading causes of ill health among schoolchildren. These problems, though uncomplicated in nature &

easily preventable, tend to remain undetected & untreated in poor families. As a result, the child’s capacity to learn & comprehend is adversely affected.

The age group of 6-14 years warrants special attention to their health & nutritional status, along with access to education & skill development

in order to ensure a healthy & productive work force for the country. India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention to the Rights of the Child.

Which clearly indicates, “States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services”.

Despite this, the nations’ children do not enjoy the benefits of a national health programme designed specifically for this age group. Approach - Naandi has

pioneered a unique School Health Programme in 289 government schools of Hyderabad (old city area), covering 60,000 children. The

strategy of the programme is to use the government school system as a means to reach out to the most socially & economically deprived

children through: 1) School-based services ; 2) Hospital-based services. This programme is comprehensive, it covers all illnesses from

common cold to cardiac conditions. All services are provided FREE to schoolchildren.

The main features of this programme are: 1) Health camps for all children – screening for illnesses, photo id cards issued 2) Outpatient clinics at

nodal schools – for children within 3-4 km to access Emergency transport to Referral centre - with toll free telephone access Base Hospital – with medicines,

investigations, surgeries & hospital stay Tertiary care tie-ups - with leading institutions for eye care, cardiac surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, etc. With this

economically viable, replicable & sustainable model, Naandi attempts to spearhead a policy change that ensures free quality healthcare to all school-going

children in the country. The Government of Rajasthan has invited Naandi to launch this programme in Udaipur city. Naandi is also in dialogue with

Govts of Madhya Pradesh & West Bengal to initiate the School Health Programme in those states. The recurring cost of running this programme is

Rs. 0.50 per day per child.

Culled from a Long Response



Andhra Pradesh

Free Comprehensive School Health Programme Covers the City,

Hyderabad (from Rani Mukherjee, Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad)The NGO Naandi has pioneered a unique School Health Programme,

using thegovernment school system to reach out to the most deprived children

throughschool and hospital based services. This programme is

comprehensive, free,and covers all illnesses from the common cold to cardiac conditions.

Theprogramme covers 60,000 children in the city. Naandi is also

attempting tospearhead a policy change that ensures free quality healthcare to all

schoolgoing children in the country. Read more

Culled from a Long Response


Arunabha Majumder, All India Institute of Hygiene of Public Health,

KolkataI give my response on rainwater harvesting & recharge. Rainwater

recharging may be subsurface/specific to the selected deep aquifer. Subsurface

rechargingthrough designed pits & sand gravel filtration arrangement may be

useful. The recharging rainwater can be collected from roof & from the courtyard

& openspaces of the building area. This is suitable for Housing Societies,

Schools,Colleges, Cooperatives, Office complexes, IT parks. Deep aquifer

recharging requires adoption of proper methods. One has to take consent from

StatutoryOrganisation. One has to be very particular about the misuse of the

recharging phenomenon & has to ensure that recharging by any means should

not create groundwater pollution problem. It has to identify recharging zone for

the proposed area to give benefit. In West Bengal, its been made

mandatory forlarge housing projects, offices, & industries to adopt rainwater

harvesting forvarious purposes. Additionally, they are encouraged to do rainwater

recharging.

Looking for the “Story”




Urban Rainwater Harvesting Projects

Mandatory RRWH Program Improves Water Utilization, Kolkata

(from Arunabha Majumder, All India Institution of Hygiene of Public Health, Kolkata)The city government required all large housing projects, office

complexes, and industries, new and old constructions must adopt rainwater. Thebuilders need to seek consent from statutory organisation, ensure

theyproperly identify recharging zones and recharge rainwater, so that it

doesnot pollute the groundwater. Rural schools are also being encouraged

touse roof catchment systems to collect water for toilets and to cleanurinals. These efforts have improved how portable water is used in

the city. Read more

Looking for the “Story”


S. Godfrey, Research Professional, New DelhiMembers of the forum have directed our attention to useful resources

on theweb for palliative care. It would have been immensely useful if some

of themembers associated with treatment, care and support had also

shared theirexperiences especially in terms of the approach, the challenges on

the groundand concern areas.

Discussion on HIV related palliative care would benefit ifwe can locate it in the evolving context of management, treatment,

care andsupport, and the experience of the condition by people living with it.

In the case of Neighbourhood Network in Palliative Care (NNPC), "the social

factor" is highlighted as one of the most important reasons for the success of

the approach. However in the case of HIV, in the present scenario, stigma and

Discrimination….

From a Resource




Neighbourhood Network in Palliative Care Improves Care(from S. Godfrey,Researcher, Delhi)‘The Pain and Palliative Care Society’ in Calicut initiated homecare services in 1996.To expand services it developed a concept of palliative care, which focuses onempowering patients and their families and a system of service delivery using anapproach to community participation- called the NNPC. The phenomenal success ofthis model of care has resulted in a network of 63 palliative care clinics being set upacross the state, which provide free care to patients in need. Read more

Recommended Documentation

Neighbourhood Network in Palliative Care (from S. Godfrey, Researcher, Delhi)Article; by Suresh Kumar and Numpeli Mathews; Indian Journal of Palliative Care; 2005Available at URL

Discusses concept of empowering local communities to care for chronically& ill & dying, & ways for communities to provide support to medical staff

From a Resource


Any Questions?


Lunch


Related Resources Features• Four key elements – 1) title, 2) recommender’s name, 3) citation/contact info, & 4) two-line abstract

• 2 line abstract 1) tells what the resource is & 2) how its related to the discussion (key words)

• Be aware of copyright issues (cite the resource’s original source when possible)

• 9 sub-sections , categorize the resources under appropriate sub-section… order sub-sections & of resources within each section, based on relevance


RR Sub-Sections

Recommended Contacts and ExpertsSpecialists & other persons to seek out for more in-depthknowledge, information or advice on a topic

Recommended Organizations and ProgrammesOrganizations or offices to contact, including project orprogramme offices


RR Sub-Sections

Recommended Communities and NetworksCoPs & other email-based discussion & knowledge-sharingnetworks

Recommended DocumentationDocumentary material - books; reports; PPTs; journals; audio & visual files;multimedia presentations


Recommended Portals and Information BasesWeb portals & linked web pages, databases, searchengines or other sources of categorized information

Recommended Upcoming EventsWorkshops, seminars, conferences & other occasions

RR Sub-Sections


Recommended Training CoursesTraining & degree courses or course material

Recommended Tools and TechnologiesInventions, patented processes or other types ofintellectual property

Related Consolidated RepliesConsolidated Replies from the current or other SE Communities

RR Sub-Sections


Research for CRsResearch for CRs

• Useful when responses have not answered all the query questions – “additional research”

• Not too many references in your name (max 5 per section) & only recommend the most relevant resources – maintain credibility

• Look for standard reference archives, normative resources, advance search options…

• Ask the people in your agency for suggestions


Additional Material • Optional, rarely used section of a CR

• Used when supplementary information is provided

• It can be the place to include the long responses that were summarized in the original posting, or to clarify a concept

• Normally is added to the end of the “Responses in Full” section or “Summary of Responses” section

Other Components


Revised Consolidated Reply• If 5 or more substantive contributions are received

after the CR is posted –can issue a Revised CR, if the contributions add valuable new insights or resources:• If issuing a Revised CR – add “Revised” in the heading

& put “New!” after each of the additional items added (line in a summary, CE, RR, response)

• If no revised CR is issued - additional contributions received simply go into the thread & a Moderator’s Note can be sent out with the final response to close the topic

Other Components


“Offline response”• If response was given, but not posted – denote it is an

“Offline Contribution”

• If no response, link the recommender’s name to their email id and denote it is an “Offline Contribution”

Other Parts of a CR


Exercise 3 – Describing a CR1. Your team has 25 min. to read the background info &

skim the CR2. After reviewing the material, prepare a brief (3-4

minutes) presentation describing the following: – What the query was about?– What are the main points covered in the Summary? – What was included in the CEs (i.e. how many, types of

stories, link to the query, are they from responses, found through research)?

– What was included in the RRs (i.e. what sub-sections were used, how to the abstracts link to the query)?

– How the CR was used by the query poser?


Any Questions?


15 minute Break


Exercise 3 – CR 1 Presentation


Any Questions?


Exercise 3 – CR 2 Presentation


Any Questions?


Tips & Tricks

• Formulation of clear query = good CR

• Keep track of responses from day one

• Effective moderation & contacting relevant members for their experiences helps ensure balance & completeness

• Read & research the subject – to give perspective & help understand the range of issues on the subject even if they don’t come in the responses

• Gauge where additional research is needed


Tips & Tricks

• Do 2-3 drafts of the Summary – starting before query closes

• Remain objective & not prescriptive – its members views that are summarized, not yours

• Organize main ideas & judiciously combine them into objective, meaningful & readable summary

• When finished with the CR, review it from “top to bottom” with fresh eyes




Post-Launch Plan


What did we learn?• Know how Solution Exchange Communities work &

what they do

• Know the basics for managing the “help” service (preparing queries & moderating responses)

• Know what a Consolidated Reply is & what each section contains


What will you do next?


SE Outreach TeamSteve Glovinsky, Advisor, Solution Exchange

[email protected] and Skype id: steve.glovinsky

Meghendra Banerjee, SE Outreach [email protected] and Skype id: meghendra

Sarah Figge, Training [email protected] and Skype id: figge07

Ramya Gopalan, Associate Outreach [email protected] and Skype id: rumsteing





Solution Exchange – a United Nations initiative Transforming knowledge into development effectiveness.

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