In search for collaboration, people and organizations sometimes have first to deal with conflict. But conflict management is not easy to understand nor to organize. This team building presentation gives some initial hints on managing conflict. Continue reading
Participatory decision-making is essential to international agricultural research programs. Facilitation helps tackle it head-on and methodically. ILRI has understood this and is investing in this skill through training various staffs and further developing in-house capacity for group facilitation beyond the training. Continue reading
CGIAR research programs are developing country collaboration processes to help CGIAR centres collaborate among themselves and with other critical national partners. Communication and engagement are critical to such processes and a communication team is well placed to help there, as is the case in Ethiopia. Continue reading
Social Learning is, almost by definition, a form of Slow Learning. Social learning was at the heart of the Innovation Process share fair held at ILRI Ethiopia in May 2015. This post reviews results from a survey about participants’ experience at the fair, and outcomes of their participation. Continue reading
An AgKnowledge Innovation Process Share Fair recently took place (25-26 May 2015) at the Addis Ababa campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to discuss this central message. The fair focused on what too many people tend to forget often: the process (of innovation) and the need for process literacy. Continue reading
I had the pleasure of attending my very first Gamification Hackathon, ‘Gamify it!’, organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in partnership with iceaddis and eLearning Africa to support the event through documentation, shooting videos and capturing photos. Continue reading
A lot of events end up being ‘Death-by-PowerPoint’ executions, by design and default. ILRI CKM support much more interactive events than those. But even with a PowerpPoint recital, a lot can be done to improve how they are run. This post presents such ideas, drawing from a recent example. Continue reading
A CGIAR-led half-day training session on ‘key messaging and pitching for impact and influencing decision makers to take up research’ was held on the last day of a ResUp Meet Up Symposium and Training Exchange held 9-12 February 2015 in Nairobi, to explore emerging issues and advance skills and practice in research uptake. Continue reading
These are highlights and lessons learnt from an event of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) known as ‘Celebrating FARA’, which was held 26-28 November 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Continue reading
The originally CCAFS-funded initiative on climate change communication and social learning (CCSL) has to start scaling up big and wide in 2015, or cease to exist in 2016. That is one of the many important conclusions of the recent CCSL team meeting (15-17 December 2014 in Kenya)… Continue reading
Maarifa - Communications and Knowledge Management 