United Nations Development Programme Bratislava Regional Centre – Europe & CIS Session 3.2 Water Governance WaterWiki – Now or Never ! Juerg Staudenmann Water Governance Advisor E&E CoP-Meeting 2008 Tue 14 Oct 2008

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 2 What is - or was to date - WaterWiki ? UNDP’s Knowledge exchange and on-line collaboration platform for water practitioners Alternative to official UNDP / project sites A continuously growing knowledge base that –improves with each individual user-contribution –allows sharing and discussing of “true knowledge” (success, failures, lessons, –is owned by the community What it is not ? –A “normal website” –Under responsibility or control of UNDP –A pure database or “Content Management System”

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 3 Background: The Pre-History of WaterWiki WaterWiki emerged from the real NEED –to systematically map & document projects, reports & key documents, organizations, “who-is-who and does what”, –to codify UNDP-relevant “knowledge on water” –for an on-line collaboration workspace APPROACH chosen –Web-based (instead of “storing it on C:-drive”) –Interactive (instead of “central delivery”) –Real-time (instead of “thanks, please wait for publication”) –Possibility for joint collaboration on knowledge products –“Something like Wikipedia, decentralized, that that works like a “Potluck-cooking party” rather than a restaurant visit” Wikipedia

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 4 The global “Wiki-experiment” Wikipedia –started “small and simple”; –grew in short time to one of the most important on-line resources. (The humble vision: “capturing the worlds knowledge”…) (The humble vision: “capturing the worlds knowledge”…) Practice proofs: Approach and tool conducive to –encourage hundred-thousands to share their individual knowledge –Despite skepticism from many deliver exponentially increasing knowledge resources of use to hundreds of millions of users

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 5 The “Wiki-idea” – Underlying principles Decentralized contributions & content responsibility (democratic + self-responsibility + peer control) Limited format or structure prescribed (let it grow !) “Tags” and hyperlinks as backbone (instead of folders & hierarchy) Allow/promote ANY knowledge in ANY format, files, pics, etc. But restrain opinions / viewpoints (use other fora for that) Coaching & support, rather than supervision and control

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 6 So, how does WaterWiki work ? Like Wikipedia … Wikipedia –On-line collection of info, knowledge, files, links … –Entire content is free for use, editing, complementation, linking –Every change is tracked to revert previous versions if needed … * BUT: While entire content is visible to anyone, only registered & logged-in users can create new or edit existing pages/articles, upload files, insert links, pics, videos (YouTube), rate or discuss contributions... While entire content is visible to anyone, only registered & logged-in users can create new or edit existing pages/articles, upload files, insert links, pics, videos (YouTube), rate or discuss contributions... What about quality control? –Self-responsibility: Each contributor is attributed to his/her contributions –Peer-control: users mutually monitor, comment and directly edit each others contributions –Facilitation: “Knowledge farmers” assist users, guide or selectively complement contributions, to maximize usability/benefit –Red-button: If necessary, users can be blocked and every change undone

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 7 Demo ( Welcome –navigation, Help, recent changes, search … –How to edit (tag-cloud, links) How to edit How to edit Reports –HDR 2006 (Overview, Chapters, Link to MDGs) HDR 2006 HDR 2006 Experience / Case Studies –Uzbekistan - “Celebrating Communities for WSS” Celebrating Communities for WSSCelebrating Communities for WSS –Category “Experience” (Comparative Experience Water Councils) ExperienceComparative Experience Water CouncilsExperienceComparative Experience Water Councils FAQs / Toolkits: –New HRBA programme New HRBA programmeNew HRBA programme –FAQs on IW management IW managementIW management Country, River Basin, and other “Portal-pages” –Countries (Uzbekistan/Central Asia) Uzbekistan/Central AsiaUzbekistan/Central Asia –Amu Darya Basin (with “transclusion” from CAREWIB) “transclusion” from CAREWIB“transclusion” from CAREWIB –Projects (“transcluded” list from UNDP homepage) “transcluded” list from UNDP homepage“transcluded” list from UNDP homepage

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 8 Evolution of WaterWiki Started “bottom-up” in Aug 2005: –zero budget (but 100% commitment + 2 interns) Aug 05 – Mar 06 (1/2 year): –From 0 to 600 visitor/day –Some 200 pages (incl. 32 “country-pages”, 25 projects, 50 reports, 40 practitioners, …) Mid 2008: –Almost 2,000 pages uploaded files (incl. 101 projects, 287 reports, 192 practitioners & 58 contacts, 97 thematic articles, 39 experience write-ups / case-studies, 127 organizations & networks, 213 definitions/concepts, …) –Current average: genuine visitors/day (approx. 15,000 page-views/day)

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 9 Client surveys 2007 User feedback: –WaterWiki has greatly improved access to information and knowledge on water in the region (“Our own little Britannica“) –Used by practitioners & experts as (a) info-base, (b) learning resource (!), and (c) “to stay connected to other practitioners” –People like the “look and feel” of WaterWiki (recognition effect due to Wikipedia) –High flexibility in terms of content, structure, presentation, continued change & development An easy-to-use platform, broad enough to cover all relevant information sources, yet focused & specific enough to remain relevant, selective, “to-the-point” and of real practical use

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 10 WaterWiki in 2008: At the turning point ! 3 years piloting experience, success, recognition: We’re on the right track. That’s how knowledge management & experience exchange can work There’s a confirmed need for “a WaterWiki” (user reviews; peer-discussions; consultations) It’s time to “spread the wings and fly”: –(i) scale-up: globalize within UNDP – and beyond –(ii) open up: broaden institutionally –(ii) professionalize: define (& occupy) niche, review structure, upgrade functionalities, enrich basic content –(iii) possibly “re-/de-brand”: (no visible (UN-) brand also legally a “slim solution”) BUT KEEP THE THEMATIC FOCUS: Water (& Sanitation)

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 11 Moving ahead (1): Scale-up & Upgrading Globalize: –All countries & all 236+ Transboundary River Basins –Entire UNDP Water Practice (WaterWiki as THE workspace for all!) Upgrade with useful (and attractive!) functionalities: –Google Maps | YouTube | WYSIWYG | “Rate this page” | “ / bookmark / print this page” | RSS-feeds –”Mesh-up” solutions (link with groups, blogs, social networks (facebook / LinkedIn/…?), SKYPE, news or meta- services, etc.) Improve structure, navigation, search –Additional “exploring mechanisms” (e.g. portals, virtual toolboxes) –Folksonomy (tag-clouds), keyword-automated listings, etc. –“Top content” (What’s new? | popular? | top-rated | Who’s active …) –Monitoring & alert functions

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 12 Moving ahead (2): Improved user-support, feel & look, guidance … Incentives for active participation: –Wizards for user-contributions (“Add new page”, “upload video”, “Related wanted pages”…) –Contributor recognition & visibility (e.g. “last 3 authors” | “this month’s top contributors” | etc. –Indicators about other users using your shared knowledge (like “# of times video watched” on YouTube) Promote & supporting community-tools –for on-line collaboration (e.g. for joint drafting of case studies, essays, etc.) –Social networking …

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 13

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 14 Moving ahead (3): Opening up UN-Water Meeting, Stockholm 17 Aug 08 –Broad recognition and decision to form a UN-Water TF on WaterWiki –Spontaneous allies: UNESCO, WHO, IAEA, UNU, UNECE –Previous interest already by UNEP, UN-Habitat, UNICEF WaterWiki as tool for all UN-Water members? –To map what UN-Water partners do, know, are working on –As joint knowledge base complementing (!) official UN-Water & agency websites –As “One-Stop-Shop” linking to existing data- and knowledge bases (of UN-Water and/or beyond) –For development of “joint UN knowledge on water” like glossary & definitions, indicators, case studies, joint reports and/or spin-offs, common facts & info on water basins, etc. –As workspace for UN-Water working groups (e.g. for development & discussion of position papers or guidelines)

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 15 WaterWiki as Multi-agency platform The “glue” between existing sites, not replacing any of them An opportunity for active and continuous inter- agency collaboration on developing and refining a wide range of knowledge products Can build on: –Existing Wiki-platform (and momentum), established structure, info & knowledge base –3 years of practical experience in developing, testing, maintaining of a Wiki platform –UNDP’s offer to support (& co-fund) development of a joint scale-up –… and of course the enormous breadth of knowledge & experience within the collective UN-Water agency W&S staff

E&E CoP–meeting 2008 / WATER, 14 Oct 2008 Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP BRC 16 The way ahead (2008/09)  Finalize upgrade & scale-up (end 2009)  Selected bi-lateral web-projects (early 2009) –UNESCO: Life-Supporrt System Encyclopedia; Water & Conflict; “236+ river basins”; –WHO: multi-lingual glossary (bi-directional!) –WWAP: publish excerpts & some of the side-materials of WWDR 4 – Istanbul WWF) –UNECE: Transboundary Water Basin Inventory  Wiki!!  UN-Water Task Force on WaterWiki (parallel) –comprehensive mapping of existing sites, tools, trends –consultations with UN-Water & all member agencies –development & implementation of UN-WaterWiki concept

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