Towards a Best Practices Knowledge Management System

1. Towards a Best Practices Knowledge Management System Presentation by Vincent Kitio www.bestpractices.org

2. Have a demonstrable and tangible impact on improving people’s quality of life; Result from effective partnerships between public, private and civic sectors of society; Are socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable. Best Practices’ Concept United Nations General Assembly defines best practices as initiatives which:

3. Genesis of Best Practices The original call for Best Practices was launched in 1996 during Habitat II conference in Istanbul • The international community defined what constitutes a best practice and adopted guidelines for their documentation and dissemination. • The Habitat Agenda mandates that best practices be used to monitor and assessprogress in achieving sustainableurbanization. • The Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP) was established as a global network of public, private and civil society organizations

4. Policy Relevance Best Practices are promoted by UN-HABITAT as a means of: • Improving public policy based on what works; • Raising awareness of decision-makers at all levels & of the general public of potential solutions to social, economic and environmental problems; • Assessing emerging issues, trends and policy responses; • Sharing & transferring expertise & experience through networking & peer-to-peer learning city to city collaboration.

5. Identification of Best Practices Identification is achieved through three principle means: • Targeted search by a global network of institutions; • Calls for best practices using the incentive of the biennial Dubai Award for Best Practices & collaboration with other award and recognition systems; • Ongoing research, operational activities and development project & program.

6. Documentation of Best Practices • Best Practices are documented by people, communities & organizations who are directly involved in their implementation. • Documentation process is intended as a capacity buildingexercise as well as an exercise in self-appraisal. • Standardized reporting format for the documentation process has evolved over time due to lessons learned & in response to emerging issues and trends.

7. Documentation of Best Practices The use of a common set of criteria and a standardized reporting format is useful in identifying and analyzing lessons learned on: • How people & communities perceive their problems & what empowers them to undertake or initiate change; • What obstacles people & their communities face & approaches effective in overcoming them; • What are the: roles, responsibilities & contributions of different social actors & partners; • Contributing factors in sustaining an initiative; • Promising policy options, effective institutional frameworks & governance systems.

8. Assessment of Best Practices The evaluation of BP involves a three-step process: validation; technical assessment; and normative assessment. Validation • Involves the global network of partners, ad hoc organizations, & individuals representing relevant geographic and/or thematic expertise and experience. • The aim is to verify that information submitted is an accurate reflection of reality. • The process is carried out through e-mail.

9. Assessment of Best Practices Technical appraisal: • Undertaken by independent technical advisory committee consisting of 15 experts with equal geographical distribution and gender balance. • The committee meets physically & its mandate is to differentiate between “best”, “good”, “promising” and “not qualifier”. • For each practice the following perspectives are considered: • three basic criteria: impact; partnerships and sustainability • additional criteria: leadership & community empowerment; innovation within the local context; gender equality and social inclusion; and transferability; • Absolute merit within a national and/or local context; • Relative merit in comparison to other practices from same region or in same thematic area.

10. Assessment of Best Practices Best Practices Jury • Short-listed practices are forwarded to an Independent Jury made of seniors professional and formal ministers, policy makers, etc. • The Jury uses similar approach in deciding on award-winning practices. • An international press-conference is organized to announce the award-winners. • The short-listed practices are used extensively for research and analysis.

11. Knowledge Management Framework

12. Knowledge Management Framework

13. Knowledge Management Framework • Step-by-step approach to BP Transfers • Match supply with demand • Structure the learning process (study tours, staff exchanges/secondment, leadership encounters, incremental approach to change) • Important role of third party facilitator (Local government academy, professional association,etc.) for monitoring and assessment

14. Environmental Sustainability Fossato di Vico, Umbria, Italy Context: • Population of 2500 people situated in the region of the Umbria, Italy; • High level of migration in the 1950s and '60s to USA; • Underdeveloped town with poor economic and social state development; • Progressive ageing of the population; • High unemployment (prevalently female) and lack of opportunities for youth; • Violent earthquake in 1997 and the town suffered damages to building and property; 60% in total, of which 12% were totally unusable.

15. Environmental Sustainability • Actions: • Good Leadership that make things happen; • Proper planning and use of emergency fund for the reconstruction; • Use of appropriate consultants to study strength and weaknesses of Fossato di Vico; • Priorities were identified through community participation and consultations with all stakeholders (political parties, social group, the private sector etc.); • Emphasis were put on historical and environmental aspects of the territory; • Reorganize the Council Administration for efficiency and transparency; • Public private partnership: Fossato di Vico, Italy

16. Environmental Sustainability • Results: • Increase job opportunities, among women and youth. • All new buildings have antiseismic characteristics; • An information center to promote social inclusion and integration support ageing people and immigrants. • Citizens are environmentally conscious: solid waste is recycled at all levels and a wind generator produce clean energy • The private sector is now co-operating with social and cultural initiatives. • A newsletter is published every 4 months to inform the public on the activities of the municipality. • Twinship with 2 other cities in France and Germany. • Fossato di Vico is alive again after a long sleep thanks to a committed leadership with a clear vision and with the ability to make things happen. Fossato di Vico, Italy

17. Political Sustainability Porto Alegre, Brazil Context: • Pervasive slums and social exclusion • High levels of urban poverty and unemployment • Corrupt and unresponsive local government

18. Political Sustainability Porto Alegre, Brazil • Actions: • Decentralisation & empowerment of communities; • Participatory Budgeting and Municipal Finance

19. Political Sustainability Porto Alegre, Brazil • Results: • Communities in control of part of budget; • Vastly improved transparency &accountability • Improved efficiency inplanning & management • The URBAL 9 Network initiated by Porto Alegre has seen the replication of Participatory Budgeting in 200 + LAC and European cities

20. Lessons Learned • Process: • Process as important as outcome; • Process is transferable, not the solution; • Matching supply with demand for knowledge, expertise and experience

21. Lessons Learned Need to combine: • Physical improvements and tangible economic benefits; • Awareness building and effective mechanisms for participation; • Partnerships and improved governance; • Decentralisation and capacity-building.

22. Lessons Learned • Need to focus more on up-scaling and transfer of BPs • Need to combine BPs with good policies & legislation • Need to promote the creation of national/regional best practices knowledge management system; • Need to strengthen and mainstream national/regional BPKM systems as a policy tool.

23. Pointers for the future • Turn good practices into policies • Refocus debate on inclusive and equitable development • Eliminate competing jurisdictions and redefine the mandate of cities • Balance between participatory & representative democracy