1. The WaterWiki Is Anarchy the Key to Knowledge Management?
Juerg Staudenmann
Water Governance Advisor
(Bratislava Regional Centre)
Brown Bag Lunch UNDP Headquarters
New York, 10 November 2005
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

2. Water Governance in Europe & CIS (RBEC)
Water Resources Management (Transboundary & national-level): A critical factor for (economic) development in RBEC
Deterioration of Water Resources, Aquatic Ecosystems, WSS infrastructure: A major challenge for most RBEC countries
EU-expansion = Large-scale transformation process, incl. adaptation to WFD (EU Water Framework Directive)
 Water Governance declared as Priority area for RBEC
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

3. Major Issues & Challenges
“Water-Energy Nexus” (CA) & “Water-Security” Nexus (transboundary)
Soviet Era Legacies:
New borders = division of natural entities (river/sea basins)
Replacement of central coordination with national thinking
Reluctance to proper Water Pricing
Growing pressure (quantity & quality) from growing agriculture, industry, municipal waste (-water)
Compliance with Intl. Water Law
Transboundary Water Convention
Aarhus Convention
Johannesburg Directive (IWRM Plans ‘til 2005)
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD)
Constraints: Lacking/inaccurate data, no systematic monitoring, low capacity / institutional insufficiency, lack of finance
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

4. UNDP’s background
Large project portfolio and various water-related activities over the past years (GEF-IW, CO level) and a network of WatGov experts and practitioners
New posts in Bratislava & CA to promote Water Governance Sub-Practice & interventions
Reinforced communication with partners & donors (incl. EC, OECD, UN-agencies)
New knowledge management initiatives
 Aim: To better capitalize on what we DO and CAN !
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

5. BRC’s Strategic Approach (Water Governance Sub-Practie)
2 of 4 pillars:
“Capturing & making available regional knowledge, capacity, expertise, and good practice (for replication)”
…develop and test new approaches to KM
“Develop regional capacity & networks”
 For example: WaterWiki
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

6. Briefly, WaterWiki is.. An interactive website:
To access and share information, knowledge, experiences
For on-line collaborate and to build communities (CoP)
Other uses as the users deem useful…
A knowledge map and collaboration tool for Water Governance Practitioners in Europe & CIS
A flexible system to be adapted and adopted..
NOT a “normal website”!
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

7. Why WaterWiki ?
Need for mapping of projects and activities (on Water Governance) in the region
Desire to have knowledge and experience (lessons learned) “At your finger-tips”
Aim to better connect practitioners and experts
Insight to keep it simple and flexible
Awareness that there are already many databases, websites, info portals, etc. etc.
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

8. Why WaterWiki ? (cont.) Therefore:
No intention to duplicate, but rather serve as hub/one-stop-shop to find, other info databases and resources
No aim to be 100% comprehensive (=too much) or absolutely correct (=too slow)
BUT: Provide a useful on-line tool for developing and implementing Water Governance projects / initiatives
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

9. The WaterWiki Pilot Project
Collaboration between Water Governance Sub-Practice and Knowledge Management Team in Bratislava to
Combine Substantive/technical motivations and Knowledge Management approaches
Access REAL knowledge (not only “success stories”)  targeted interviews
Make all this available on-line and real-time
 Wiki-Technology !?
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

10. What is Wiki software? “Wiki Wiki” (Haiti): Quick, flexible, informal
“Anyone” can edit anything in real-time
No hierarchal structure: all entries at same level but cross-linked (network) and/or ‘tagged’ with categories
No central control  publicly owned information (and thus “peer quality control”)
Simple use
 Anarchy (but not disorder!) (Global example:
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

11. (www.undp.sk  Energy & Environment  Water Governance)
DEMONSTRATION...
(  Energy & Environment  Water Governance)
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic