The session was co-hosted by Dgroups Foundation Associates Jessica Ball and Pier Andrea Pirani, with contributions from Rocío Sanz, Davide Piga, Simon Hearn, and Ivan Piseta, alongside participants joining from a wide range of organisations and regions.

The exchange was structured around four themes:

• Knowledge retention;
• The role of AI in knowledge management and collaboration; 
• How to understand and assess success in online collaboration and knowledge exchange; and 
• What it takes to sustain and grow engagement over time. 

These themes provided a shared frame for the conversation.

Why knowledge retention still matters

Rocío opened by emphasising that knowledge retention goes beyond documents and databases. While reports and systems capture part of what organisations know, much of the most valuable knowledge remains tacit, shaped by experience, context, and relationships.

Participants reflected on how short contracts, staff turnover, and fragmented ways of working often lead to the quiet loss of institutional memory. Knowing where organisations and communities come from is not about repeating the past, but being better equipped to respond to the future, informed by what has already been tried, learned, and adapted.

Simon added that communities of practice offer an important space for this kind of learning, bringing together participation (conversation and interaction) and reification (documents, tools, and artefacts) in ways that allow knowledge to be interpreted and reused, not just stored.

AI as a support, not a substitute

A second focus was on the roles of artificial intelligence in knowledge management and collaboration.

Davide shared practical examples from the recent relaunch of the KM4Dev Knowledge Sharing Toolkit, where AI is used to reduce barriers to contribution. Instead of asking contributors to produce polished written content, the toolkit allows people to talk through a method or experience, with AI helping to structure this into a first draft that follows agreed templates and style.

AI is also being used to support reflection, helping practitioners surface lessons learned from experience and link those insights to existing methods. This approach aimed to keep people at the centre while making contributions easier.

At the same time, speakers and participants were clear about limitations. AI produces fluent language without understanding context or truth, and can introduce unnecessary complexity if not used carefully. Several contributors stressed that AI should support thinking and reflection – not replace them – and that tacit knowledge still depends on human interaction.

Ivan added that, from a platform perspective, one promising direction is using AI to improve discoverability, helping users find relevant content more easily, rather than asking AI to generate new conclusions or advice.

Collaboration and knowledge exchange are not projects

The third theme was how to understand and assess “success” in online collaboration and knowledge exchange, particularly in settings where participation is voluntary, and outcomes are not easily reduced to metrics.

Simon offered a framing that resonated strongly: online collaboration spaces and communities cannot be treated in the same way as projects or programmes. Participants join for different reasons, and conveners, host organisations, and funders often bring their own expectations.

Simon distinguished between internal outcomes, such as changes in participation and collaboration practices, and external outcomes, where learning influences work beyond the collaboration space itself. He also noted that conventional evaluation tools, such as surveys, often struggle to gain traction in voluntary contexts.

Reflection and learning, he suggested, are more effective when embedded into activities that already matter to participants, supporting learning rather than accountability alone.

Onboarding, trust, and sustaining engagement

The final theme focused on sustaining and growing engagement over time, bringing the discussion back to fundamentals that cut across all four areas.

Rocío highlighted how the shift to online work has reduced informal spaces for connection and sense-making. Well-designed collaboration spaces can help recreate some of this, but only if people feel welcomed and safe to contribute.

Davide emphasised that onboarding is not a technical step but a relational one.

Clear expectations, shared values, and explicit norms help participants engage without fear of judgment or reputational risk. Several speakers noted that small, intentional practices (e.g., welcome messages, community charters, etc.) often have a decisive impact on engagement.

Simon offered a reminder that most participants will never post actively, and that this is not necessarily a problem.

By supporting a small group of active contributors, collaboration spaces can sustain energy while still creating value for quieter participants.

Shared value and looking ahead

Looking across the discussion threads, people highlighted the importance of shared value, not only among participants, but also between collaboration spaces and the organisations that support them. For engagement to be sustainable, participation needs to be meaningful for individuals and aligned with organisational priorities.

Despite different roles and contexts, participants described similar challenges and lessons. Technologies will continue to evolve, and funding environments will remain uncertain. Yet many fundamentals remain constant:

If you have feedback on the Exchange, or ideas for future Knowledge & Learning Exchanges, we’d be glad to hear from you – drop a comment below or get in touch with us

As part of activities to mark twenty-five years of the KM4Dev community, the Foundation is supporting efforts to revamp its website, introducing a cleaner design and easier navigation to make the wealth of resources and conversations more accessible to members and the wider knowledge management community. 

The new site will also strengthen integration between the long-standing KM4Dev discussion groups and the public web presence, providing a more seamless experience for users and supporting ongoing community activities. 

The launch is planned for December 2025, with further improvements foreseen next year.

Contact the KM4Dev Core Group for more information and join the KM4Dev group https://dgroups.io/g/km4dev.

One of the key areas we’ve worked on recently is the integration of different online collaboration platforms with other tools and systems for knowledge sharing and management. This work has allowed us to explore innovative solutions and deliver more cohesive systems that enhance collaboration outcomes for our partners.

Alongside this, we experience growing demands to integrate Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems with internal Knowledge Management platforms. This is a relatively new area for the Foundation, and we’ve enjoyed collaborating with partners to design and implement different solutions.

Moving forward, we aim to continue improving how we document and share news from the Foundation and our Partners to strengthen our collective impact. You can stay updated on our website at dgroups.info or following us on LinkedIn.

Finally, we are pleased to announce the expansion of our team of Associates. We are enjoying being able to draw on the expertise of Jessica Ball, Tony Murray, Simon Hearn, Sajid Chowdhury and the team at Big Blue and Susanna Pecora – covering facilitation, online collaboration, web design, and platform building.

Survey on online collaboration

In October, we launched a survey to understand needs, trends, and demands for online collaboration and interaction in the development, humanitarian, and health sectors. And to identify popular and promising technical solutions that people are using to enable online collaboration and interaction.

So far, we received 50 responses from a wide range of people. While we are still analysing the responses, here are some emerging results:

• Email, document sharing and editing platforms, and video conferencing tools are the most common modes of online collaboration/interaction.
  
• In terms of tools and platforms, the most used are: Google Workspace and MS Teams; Zoom; Google Drive, OneDrive and SharePoint; and email in general.
  
• Emerging trends identified as shaping future online collaboration and interaction include:
  • Integration of AI in workflows, analytics, and collaboration tools.
  • Hybrid collaboration, blending face-to-face and online interactions.
  • Budget and environmental constraints, increasing reliance on virtual meetings and online tools.
  • Smartphone proliferation in low- and middle-income countries, enhancing accessibility but likely to significantly influence the choice of tools and apps.
  • Increasing use of high-quality automated translations for more inclusive global collaboration.
  • Growing integration across platforms and tools.

We plan to share the full survey results in early 2025 and continue this conversation in a public virtual exchange with Dgroups Partners and other interested individuals and organizations.

Project updates

Integrating content and ‘spaces’ in the CLARE KM platform

Earlier this year, we developed a  Knowledge Management (KM) Platform for the CLimate Adaptation & REsilience (CLARE) Programme of FCDO and IDRC. The platform integrates the groups.io software with WordPress, and imports records from a Dspace repository into WordPress as custom post types. This demonstrates how different open content can be brought together in an integrated system that reinforces different collaboration outcomes. We have documented this in a short case study. Read more

Supporting knowledge management for the AQUADAPT Initiative

We further continued our partnership with IDRC – working with the AQUADAPT initiative to scope, design and build its knowledge management platform. The platform will enable the collection and analysis of monitoring data across projects, and facilitate cross-programme peer learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. The beta version of the platform is expected later this year, with the full release in early 2025. Read more

From planning to action: Launching the CGIAR climate community

Earlier this year, CGIAR launched an online climate community—a dedicated space to share updates, insights, and foster connections among experts and peers committed to addressing climate adaptation and mitigation challenges. The Dgroups Foundation is collaborating with the Platform to nurture and grow this online community, adding value to its members, their work, and the Platform’s overarching goals. Read more

Integrating MEL systems with knowledge management platforms

For two recent projects, we developed monitoring systems Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems integrated into internal Knowledge Management (KM) platforms.As a relatively new area for the Foundation, it’s been exciting to collaborate with partners to design and implement tailored solutions in this space. Read more

Establishing an AMR knowledge sharing space for IDRC

Building from our work with CLARE and AQUADAPT, we just agreed a further project with IDRC to support ‘InnoVet-AMR’ – a four-year partnership between IDRC and the UK Department of Health and Social Care to address the emerging global threat of antimicrobial resistance by reducing the misuse of antimicrobials in animal production in the Global South. In early 2025, we will develop a knowledge management platform to support the program’s internal information storage and knowledge sharing between grantees.

Practical steps for engaging communities of practice

Earlier this year, we published a concise CoP Engagement Planning Guide that draws on some of the best-known practices to offer a practical and actionable framework for online communities. The guide outlines clear strategies for effective CoP planning and management within the development sector. By implementing these strategies, organizations, projects, and networks can significantly enhance the effectiveness of their CoPs, fostering more meaningful interactions and driving successful outcomes. Read more

Partner experiences

Aside from our own directly contracted projects and support, we observe our partners using their groups in different ways. Here we share a few updates.

The D4Ag community specialises in online community conversations as mechanisms to drive membership engagement and experience sharing on digital agriculture. We recently published a short case on its approach, covering the  community’s evolution, its strategies to engage members, and practical tips to cultivate dynamic and inclusive digital communities. Particularly interesting is the strategic use they make of eConversations, to build dialogue and partnerships, and turn dialogue into knowledge. Read more

At ILRI, the GLAD livestock community has been with us for several years. It brings together individuals and organizations with interests in sustainable livestock systems in developing areas, sharing plans and resources that can help make the case for increased investment. Operating somewhat in the background of the initiative, it supports the advocacy efforts of various groups that each have their specific strategic niches. In recent years, it has particularly supported information-sharing and engagement campaigns around major global events.  Alongside the community space, the initiative has a dedicated website – https://whylivestockmatter.org/

The CGIAR GENDER community was set up in early 2020 around a meeting in Rome of the gender research community of CGIAR. Then, the idea was to provide a mechanism for the wider CGIAR gender community to engage with that meeting – the organisers provided daily discussion updates, and the wider community was asked to contribute their ideas. Since then, the community has grown into a broader community of interest in gender and agriculture with regular sharing of information on events, publications and opportunities. 

In October 2024, the GENDER platform convened a face-to-face meeting in India to discuss strategies to make agricultural extension more gender responsive. For this meeting, recognizing the ambitious agenda and limited time, a dedicated online sub-group was created for participants to introduce themselves in advance of the meeting. Alongside their short introductions the contributors also shared the critical factors they saw holding back more gender responsive extension. In the meeting itself, this initial interaction proved useful as people also readily knew something of each other and, interestingly, the critical factors identified proved to be a good match for an evidence review that the organisers prepared. Since the meeting, a few updating messages have been shared and there may be interest to continue the discussions.

KM4Dev end-of-year event

On 18 December 2024, we joined members of the KM4Dev community in an end-of-year event. The session was an occasion to celebrate what the community has achieved during this year and to brainstorm ideas and plan activities around the 25th Anniversary of this long-standing, thriving online community.

Looking forward

To wrap up, here are a few activities and ideas we look forward to taking forward in 2025:

• Virtual exchange: Early next year, we will hold another online Partner-driven, exchange meeting. The program will include a  review of the survey results to test the results and implications as well as hearing updates on partners and others on their lessons and innovations around  online collaboration and communities of practice. Together, we will capitalize on the experiences from partners and beyond. More details in the new year.

• A database and directory of online groups: A few years back we prototyped the Community Connector – a public, searchable database and directory of online groups and communities in the development and humanitarian sector. As we gain experience integrating information from different online communities and other platforms, we are keen to find partners to explore how we can  move the ‘connector’ to a next level that leverages the possibilities offered by API and other integration methods. Drop us a line if you are interested in this initiative.

• Supporting KM4Dev 25th Anniversary: For its 25th birthday celebrations in 2025, KM4Dev is planning a series of events and activities during the whole year. As Dgroups Foundation, we’ll be supporting these efforts by providing the platform that enables planning and implementation of the celebrations. And supporting the process of revamping the KM4Dev website, for a closer integration between the website and the various km4dev-related email groups.

Let us know of any ideas you might like to explore further or discuss – we are always keen to collaborate on joint projects and outreach using online tools and approaches where the Foundation’s networks can add value.

IFAD Innovation Network

Gladys Morales presented the IFAD innovation network as an example of using online groups to discuss an issue in a community of interest. The IFAD Innovation Network is an informal group of innovation practitioners, authors, and global influencers that aims to reach 2,000 members by the end of the year. The network serves as a hub for innovation-related activities and initiatives within IFAD, as well as a mechanism for engaging with external partners. It provides a space for collaboration, dialogue, and learning, with the aim of driving innovation in IFAD’s operations and beyond. It is open to the public, and members include innovation practitioners, authors, and renowned global influencers in innovation, as well as individuals from academia, research institutions, private sector companies, and civil society organizations.

In terms of platform functionalities and features that are used to enhance collaboration, engagement, and knowledge sharing among members of the network, Gladys focused on the use of hashtags. Hashtags are used consistently to categorize posts related to specific innovation themes or projects. This makes it easier for members who are interested in that topic to find and engage with the post, to track the overall conversation and engagement around a particular theme or project.

CGIAR GENDER

Vivan Atakos introduced the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform as an example of using online groups across initiatives or projects. She shared how they use the group platform to support networking and sharing across different initiatives related to gender in agriculture. The group brings together gender researchers from 14 research centers across the world, and the platform is used to actively enable internal knowledge sharing, learning, and collaboration. The group has 225 members, including gender researchers, donors, and practitioners interested in gender issues. The platform provides a safe space for informal exchanges, sharing of events, publications, job opportunities, and consultancies related to gender in agriculture. Vivian encourages membership by providing targeted emails to new staff members, inviting them to join the platform, and providing a link to sign up.

A group feature that is particularly relevant and used is the calendar – a convenient and effective way to track key events and ensure everyone is informed. It is a simple solution that makes a big difference in keeping members updated with the latest happenings related to gender in agriculture.

KM4Dev (internal) groups

The KM4Dev group is well-known as an example of a successful online Community of Practice. But behind the main, public, group, the KM4Dev volunteers and core group also use several other online groups. These are normally small groups, set up and used to facilitate specific processes related to the management of the community and community activities – for example: to organize the rotation of monthly volunteer moderators; to discuss research and research issues; to coordinate between KM4Dev Journal editors; to plan and follow up on Core Group meetings and discussions.

Sarah Cummings illustrated how these different subgroups work and how they are managed, and some of the platform functionalities that they use. In the volunteers’ group, using polls makes the process of identifying monthly list moderators very efficient – the poll functionality is part of the platform, and polls can quickly be set up and launched.

C4C Advocacy group

John Ede from Charter for Change (C4C) illustrated how C4C is using online groups to support their advocacy initiatives. Charter for Change is an initiative led by national and international NGOs aiming to implement changes in the humanitarian system to enable more locally-led humanitarian responses. The C4C Advocacy Group is a smaller group within the network that advocates approaches to address imbalances and inequalities in the global humanitarian system and make equitable partnerships with local and national actors core to funding streams. The group has approximately 150 members from local, national, and international NGOs, as well as allied networks and organizations working on the localization of aid agenda. Members exchange information and collaborate to advance advocacy as individual agencies and collectively as the Charter for Change network, driving progress on the localization of aid agenda.

The group uses the email list functionality of the online platform to organize calls and discuss joint statements or pledges, which are then fed back into the group for comments or additions. The group also jointly develops advocacy statements as INGOs and national NGOs to influence key humanitarian decision-makers or strategies and organizes localization-focused side events.

D4Ag online dialogue

Giacomo Rambaldi shared experiences with an online, facilitated dialogue that the Digital Agri Hub convened with support from the Dgroups Foundation.

The online dialogue aimed to identify priorities and gaps in capacity-building opportunities for digitalization in agriculture. The dialogue, designed and facilitated by the Dgroups Foundation, was conducted for a three-week period across various platforms such as Zoom and the email list. Other group features were used to support the process, such as: the calendar, to publish the dialogue timeline and milestones; the wiki, to explain the dialogue process, provide technical guidance to participants, and publish weekly discussion summaries; the hashtags, to organize messages and topics.

He also focused on some of the challenges of engaging people to contribute to such exercises. From a survey he conducted some time ago, the results indicated that members in online groups may be hesitant to contribute due to their language constraints, which make them afraid to write and contribute publicly to a dialogue. He suggested that a similar survey could be replicated, with a standard questionnaire administered across different Dgroups Partners groups to identify other potential challenges to engaging contributors.

The chat and discussion throughout the talk show highlighted how the groups.io platform is rich in functionality, facilitating member engagement and providing a voice to many. Participants also noted the importance of ‘democratizing’ online dialogue and exchange through user collaboration and engagement. Some participants also suggested organizing training for the community at least once a year to remind members of the platform’s functionalities and to foster adoption. Finally, participants suggested and encouraged to continue this type of experience-sharing events to all benefit from individual experiences across the Dgroups partnership.

This is the third of a series of short posts from the discussion. The other two posts cover:

• Online interaction around events and meetings – the peer assist
• Online collaboration experience exchange – the 24 February session

Talk to us if you look for advice, coaching, and support in your work with online groups and communities

The KM4Dev email list, hosted by the Dgroups Foundation on its groups.io platform, is the community’s primary exchange platform. 

To cover the running costs of KM4Dev ICT infrastructure – e.g. the web domain, wiki, toolkit, and journal – KM4Dev has launched a donation campaign for members to support KM4Dev financially.

The Dgroups Foundation partnered with KM4Dev to support this fundraising campaign by testing and enabling the donation feature of the groups.io platform.

The feature is very straightforward and it allows group members to view the donation request and make donations via credit or debit card. Once the donation process is completed, donors receive a Donation receipt via email.

If you are a member of KM4Dev, consider making a donation

Thursday 11 August 2022 – 2 pm CEST – check time in your time zone

Registration link: https://bit.ly/3yRXCle

Development and humanitarian organisations increasingly want to include and act upon the voices, opinions, and insights of young people.

They often do this by setting up specific youth dialogues and fora, by inviting youth into other events and activities, and by giving roles to young people in programs and projects.

As examples, the EU Youth Dialogue happens in 18-month work cycles, to ensure that “the opinion, views, and needs of young people and youth organisations are taken into account when defining the EU’s youth policies.” At the global level, the UN Deputy Secretary-General has embarked on a series of dialogues to connect with youth representatives – such as with the Virtual Youth Dialogue on Climate hosted in 2021. Another recent example is the World Bank Group Youth Summit 2022 which took place in May 2022 in Washington DC and virtually. 

We also see an appetite from young people themselves to create spaces and actively contribute to dialogue and debate on a wide range of technical, societal, and policy questions. Young people are digitally connected as never before and they use digital platforms and tools differently than previous generations. 

As we look forward, how can development organisations best include young voices in dialogues? And what can we learn from the ways that youth engage online, to better respond to their aspirations and needs and devise more inclusive online dialogues?

To mark this year’s International Youth Day, the Dgroups Foundation and KM4Dev will convene a facilitated online dialogue on “youth in dialogues”.  We aim to bring together experiences where dialogue and other processes have explicitly worked with youth or tried to amplify their voices on development and humanitarian issues.

The “youth in dialogue” event will explore the following questions:

• How are youth being brought into and involved in local to global dialogues?
• Which format(s) are being used to engage youth? And with what results?
• How and where are young people themselves engaging in dialogue and becoming part of the solution to global issues?
• What actions or activities seem to help such dialogues with youth continue and produce results into the future?
• What are ‘good practices’ in involving youth?
• What value is being created for youth themselves in these processes? Is there reciprocity from organizations?

The highlights for the year are really the exciting events we ran; the productive online dialogues we supported; the ‘stories’ we captured; the interesting people we have interacted with and learned from.

We put more effort into documenting better what we do – so go ahead and read a summary of our 2021 activities below here. Or if you want to see all individual posts, head over to the archive page for last year.

Adding Value Online

Our first event took place in January 2021 with the Dgroups Partners Dialogue on Adding Value Online. This event built on the various dialogues and interactions we had in 2020 that resulted in this brief with lessons for more effective online collaboration, dialogue and interaction, focusing on what works in international development.

During the event, we heard from 4 Dgroups Partners how communities of practice and online collaboration provide value for their organization or initiative and their members:

• Rocio Sanz from the KM4Dev community provided a brief history and background of KM4Dev. She then talked about the KM4Dev monthly Knowledge Cafés and how they have been instrumental in growing and strengthening the community.
• Jana Dietershagen took us on a quick journey through the Pacific, talking about a four-year project on promoting nutritious food systems in the Pacific islands. A significant part of the project was to create a multi-stakeholder community and platform and to facilitate online and offline discussions and that would provide networking opportunities and strengthen the trust among the participants.
• Tarini Ross presented how Charter4Change (C4C) has been using email based discussion groups to facilitate and enable its work and the collaboration amongst its members.
• Ilaria Urbani shared how IFAD has been setting up and supporting online communities and networks to develop, capture, curate and share knowledge, especially by building on the collective knowledge of members.

In the second part of the event, we had the pleasure to hear from Ewen LeBorgne, who presented how Liberating Structures (LS) can be used to unleash participation and collaboration in online meetings and events. He also described what advantages Liberating Structures bring to our practice, regardless of the type of meeting and events.

Improving capacities of groups, communities, and networks

In the spring and summer of 2021, we facilitated three learning sessions to improve online collaboration capacities of groups, communities and networks. Two short briefings were held for IFAD and KM4Dev group members and one for dgroups.io group moderators and administrators. 

More capacity briefing and training sessions will be organized in 2022. If you are interested in planning a session with us, or want to know more about how the Dgroups Foundation can support the design, set up and run effective online groups, communities, dialogues or events, please get in touch with us!

‘Community connector ‘ – a public directory of online groups and communities

In October 2021, we launched the first version of the ‘community connector‘ – a public, searchable database and directory of online groups and communities in the development and humanitarian sector working towards shared sustainable development goals. Have a look at the initial set of online groups and communities in the Community connector.

We would like to keep improving and expanding the connector, and see how we can further develop it so that it’s more than a directory. If you’re interested in working together to continue developing the community connector, use this form to suggest other communities that we should add. Or reach out to us to discuss how we could improve and expand on the existing functionality.

Online collaboration trends and actions for more effective international development

In October 2021, we convened an online partnership dialogue to look back and forward, exploring how online collaboration in the development sector might evolve and actions we can take to prepare for the changes.

• In the opening chat show moderated by Peter Ballantyne, we heard how Louise Clarke, Steve Agbenyo, Ivan Kulis, and Nawsheen Hosenally got started with online collaboration. Together we reflected on the changes, challenges, and successes we have experienced – where were we, where are we now, what are our predictions for the future.
• Next, in a conversation with Nancy White, we looked to the future and discussed the notion of critical uncertainties – and how to navigate them for better collaboration and more effective international development.
• During the closing fishbowl moderated by Saskia Harmsen, Giacomo Rambaldi, Hannah Kabelka, Neil Pakenham-Walsh, and Tarini Ross reflected on the meeting, the issues that emerged, and the main takeaways.

Shaping digital agricultural capacities – a D4Ag online dialogue

Close to the end of the year, we partnered with the Digital Agri Hub to support and facilitate an online dialogue on shaping digital agricultural capacities. This dialogue aimed to identify capacity gaps, opportunities, priority needs and best-bet learning solutions for people and organizations working with digital agriculture.  The dialogue was organised with a mix of ‘live’ online events (a kickoff and closing webinar) and a facilitated and moderated email-based discussion. Overall, between the webinars and the e-discussion, the dialogue involved 194 unique participants from 58 different countries and territories. Talk to us to explore how we can support your online dialogue or event.

Looking forward

We are keen to continue and expand the work we do – by bringing on board new projects, working with new partners, and new associates. Some activities are already well underway. 

Are you interested in what the Dgroups Foundation could do for you? Would you like to learn more about the projects we are involved in, and the type of support we provide? Do you see potential to partner and collaborate together? Do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to working with you in 2022!

Join us online: on the web; on Twitter; on LinkedIn; on YouTube; in one of our communities.

In 2021 we facilitated three learning sessions to improve online collaboration capacities of groups, communities and networks. 

The heart of our online communities are the individual people signed up to our groups.  To help Partners get more from their groups, in April and August 2021 we ran two short briefings for IFAD and KM4Dev group members. In these sessions, we covered some of the basic and advanced features of the groups.io software, which underpins the dgroups.io communities. We looked at how to best use the group email, and how to get the most out of the groups by logging in online – to manage the profile; set email subscription preferences; and control the volume of email messages received from a group.

Similarly, in July 2021 we run a session for dgroups.io group moderators and administrators. In this session, we looked at the key features of the groups.io software. We then presented 4 things each group admin should know (profile; feed, topics, and calendar homepages; bouncing and bounced members; group guidelines). Further, we reviewed the key group settings. Finally, we discussed some of the group web features (calendar; database; polls; wiki) and presented how some communities are using these features.

More capacity briefing and training sessions will be organised in 2022. If you are interested in planning a session with us, or want to know more about how the Dgroups Foundation can support the design, set up and run effective online groups, communities, dialogues or events, please get in touch with us!

In this video, Rocio Sanz from the KM4Dev community provides a brief history and background of KM4Dev. She then talks about the KM4Dev monthly Knowledge Cafés and how they have been instrumental in growing and strengthening the community.

• Enhancing #participation and #engagement
• Nurturing effective #COPs
• Using appropriate #platforms
• #Learning through e-collaboration
• #Sustaining engagement through time

On 24 September, the Dgroups Foundation facilitated an online meeting to discuss whether these are indeed ‘the’ critical issues and ways to capitalize on this emerging agenda. The meeting was part of the knowledge café series put together by the KM4Dev community, and was attended by more than 40 persons, from Kenya to the United States.

Introducing the session, Peter Ballantyne explained the origins of this workshop, starting with a knowledge café in May where participants identifed four critical success factors for online collaboration. This was followed by a session in the KM4Dev@20 workshops in July, where participants extended the agenda (with considerations of the COVID-19 pandemic, a focus on event design and dynamics, calls for cross-community learning and, especially, for greater attention to inclusion), and then with a four-week e-conference where more than 110 practitioners from all over the world looked at ‘what works’ when talking about online collaboration, dialogue and interactions in international development. This session directly resulted from the e-conference where people asked to have a live conversation around the many ideas shared.

An icebreaker exercise asked participants to share ways they collaborate online have changed this year. For some, working from home and working virtually has translated into more frequent and sometimes better managed, more focused meetings. Online collaboration is not a choice and people have become more confident with online tools. On the other hand, working virtually has also meant busier agendas and longer working days. And while it’s easier to collaborate online, participation is not always equal, especially for users that don’t have a good internet connection.

Introducing the initial conclusions and recommendations, e-conference moderator Jorge Chavez-Tafur asked workshop participants to reflect in small groups on these issues, discussing their relevance to their own experiences.

Discussions were deliberately not formally documented; participants instead used the chat to share their recommended ways to enhance online collaboration. Their ideas showed the importance of:

• Mixing formats and channels and tones – formal, informal, conversations, zoom and email for example, online, offline, and knowing when conversation or documentation are best suited
• Learning and innovating and experimenting together, adapting styles to participants and purposes, reinforcing sharing of tacit and explicit knowhow and curating links and resources
• Clarifying and agreeing goals, plans, expectations and purpose, to really be aware of any assumptions – and not be afraid to regularly revisit and adjust priorities and plans
• Devising processes that translate audiences who watch into participants who engage – knowing who is online, making sure they have a chance with the microphone, and actively facilitating interactions
• Making conversations and interactions as inclusive as possible, overcoming connectivity barriers, tackling power dynamics, choosing accessible applications, bringing in all the experiences of participants and giving space for new or different voices.

Reflecting on the actual process of interaction and engagement used for this exercise (3 facilitated Zoom workshops to identify and discuss an agenda, a moderated e-conference to explore insights and lessons more deeply, a wiki to capture and organize insights, blog posts and video reports of the discussions, synthesis and summary products … ) participants formed groups again to share how they felt about the various engagement elements. Some of the ‘success’ insights seen or heard by participants included:

• Actively inviting and encouraging people to take part; engaging people behind the scenes as the facilitator and reaching out individually to encourage and appreciate their participation
• Having a dialogue that was well-organized, structured and focused, time-bound and a sense that it is brought together for a purpose/outcome
• Considering the importance of trust – which can be reinforced through interactions and getting to know and appreciate others
• Building horizontal interactions and networking; getting to meet people, find people and share in their knowledge – all needing good leadership
• Encouraging people to take part by mapping their knowledge, providing conversational spaces, fishbowl type meetings and video interviews; Zoom calls can build trust between people and email/wiki provides the space for analysis and thinking.

Looking forward, we closed the discussions by brainstorming what some concrete ways to capitalize on these insights and learning could be:

• Document how the online discussions were organized so the approach can be adapted by others
• Document and share the notes and recordings of the discussions
• Map the impact of CoPs, particularly KM4Dev
• Organize specific ‘peer assists’ on some challenging online situations (e.g., my annual conference is virtual; my learning event is online; my writeshop is digital; how do I document an online event …) where collective experiences can be shared and documented – as an extension of the KS Toolkit for example
• Keep having these conversations – not everything needs to be documented – there is value in just sharing
• Use the wiki to summarize conversation; encourage participants to contribute to this.
• Devise a capitalization process: make a pool for ideas, call for participation, link them at the back end, match them with a good facilitator…

These ideas will be fed back into the e-conference where they will feed development of a short synthesis product and help continue and sustain the engagement through the various networks and emerging collaborations.

Report compiled by Peter Ballantyne, Jorge Chavez-Tafur and Pier Andrea Pirani