Tragedy of Commons: Communities of Practice

Knowledge Sharing

In the development sector and in the developing world whenever it comes to preparedness and resilience building knowledge sharing becomes vital. Disasters are not anticipated and they do not come up with the warnings. However, in some cases it can be forecasted and its impact projected through different models but those estimations are also based on the best assumptions. People threatened by same level of atrocities and fear shares the common tragedy regardless of their socio-economic identity or the physical boundaries. Communities start to make all their efforts to minimize and mitigate the challenges they are facing. The knowledge on "How To" of being prepared and skills to become resilient emerges when there are adequate physical and technical interfaces to interact and to share the knowledge. People become well equipped with the do's and don'ts information and this happens because there is knowledge sharing among the peers and like situation people across the border.  

Physical, inherent, tacit or existing practices are the knowledge that exists explicitly and may be hidden most of the time. In the time of tragedy of commons these knowledge are brought forward by the people and practitioner so that the communities can perceive the information, conceive the idea and contemplate the message. This leads to application of knowledge that has been shared by any means and gradually changes are felt at local level. Knowledge here binds people and creates an army of people equipped with idea and skills to face the challenges and reduce the impacts. Sharing knowledge keeps the effort dynamic and also produces some byproducts that may benefit the communities in other sphere of life and livings.

 As of today when the world is facing unforeseen situation in the form of COVID 19 outbreak that is equivalent of World War II in terms of geography it has reached and the life of people it has impacted. In such critical juncture when there is societal crisis knowledge sharing is very vital. Course correction by internalizing lesson learned from other parts of world and replicating the best practices of containing virus spread by minimizing human suffering is need of the time for which knowledge transfer needs to be prioritized. Pertaining to current trends in containing the virus outbreak China and South Korea has created best practice of limiting the contagiousness of the virus. These knowledge needs to be fed in to proper channels so that the health governing authorities and practitioners can introduce these proven and tested practices locally. Often humanitarian assistance comes without knowledge on reaching out the people and delivering to meet their immediate needs.

Analyzing the data trends, producing revealing information and developing the knowledge instilled in to the doings, imply know-how and understanding that comply and suit local condition and circumstances counts a lot. Since the knowledge is the capacity for the action to make thing happen, it's proper transfer to practitioner is always crucial. The appropriate knowledge that needs to consume by the general public should be packaged well and should be fed in to feasible media channels so that its contemplation rate is higher among the people that ultimately leads to communities of practice.

In the case of emergency that is encompassing the globe some modules of knowledge sharing may not be feasible for the local context. However, since the knowledge is a mix of framed experience, values, contextual information and expert insight that provide a framework for evaluating current course of action, incorporating innovative ideas and efficient approach the knowledge sharing cannot be overlooked in emergencies too. In this time of information influx and people already feeling information fatigue the knowledge should not be confused with information. Simply information is all about "what" and knowledge is all about "how".

As knowledge management is the efficient handling of information in order to make it usable in the purview of the technical capacity and available logistics, it also ensures the effectiveness of measures commenced to reduce the impacts and make the communities more resilience. Knowledge cannot function on its own standalone as it requires the resources and enabling environment within any organization and governing settings. It requires people to share and use knowledge, processes to pull and push the knowledge, and the technology to share, transfer and adopt the knowledge.

In the time of emergency and when the people and authorities are wondering what has gone best with others and how that best algorithm of doing things can be imported, the open knowledge source is equally important as humanitarian assistance. It enables the governing authority to better protect and exploit what it has, what it knows and what it can change. Knowledge sharing in fighting COVID 19 outbreak scenarios where few desired outcomes have been observed elsewhere adds immense value to efforts all are making to establish communities of practice. In other words knowledge from anywhere in whatever formats and shapes will help all those involved to minimize the tragedy of commons. It minimizes the un-calculated and unforeseen risks and gives ample of opportunity learn and improve. Knowledge sharing is always part of disaster preparedness and disaster response.

-         Bhuwan Adhikari, Knowledge Expert associated with United Nations in Africa