GWP Banner Engagement Strategies for GWP partners
by James Keirstead
February 2003
Introduction Download a detailed version of this page in PDF format.

Members of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) play a vital role in advancing the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM). Some partners create new knowledge, while others act as intermediaries between researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders. In all of these circumstances, GWP members must have an understanding of how knowledge is created, disseminated, and used. This document summarizes how lessons from knowledge and communications management can help build an engagement strategy. The goal of such a strategy is not to increase the administrative burden, but to provide a systematic framework when thinking about the impact of your GWP activities.

Four Suggestions for GWP Partners

  1. Create an engagement strategy

    2. An effective engagement strategy should combine knowledge management and communication strategies to provide the basis for strong partnerships. Each GWP partner should develop a general strategy, outlining their goals, strengths, weaknesses, and resources, as well as specific strategies for a given product or event.

    A general engagement strategy should include statements of your goals, the services you offer, who you are trying to influence (as specifically as possible), and how you will evaluate your impact. By clearly defining these basic considerations, you will be able to focus your efforts more effectively.

    A more focused engagement strategy can be developed for individual projects or events. For example if your organization has just established a website, you should have a clear picture of who you want to read the site and what key message they should take away from it. It is then possible to tailor the message to meet their needs and develop a means of evaluation, to see if the message was successfully delivered.

  2. Focus on partnerships for action

    3. While it is important to communicate your message clearly, the desired impact is often more than simply delivering an idea; you want to create change. Quite often the best way to do this is by creating partnerships for action and this should be a key part of your engagement strategy. Building partnerships can be a slow process but there are significant benefits. For example, bringing together researchers, policymakers and farmers allows each group to contribute their concerns and advice for the benefit of all. Additionally, this creates trust and it becomes easier to implement a new idea if there is a consensus among the parties.

    Establishing such a partnership requires identifying potential members, approaching them with your ideas, and outlining how a partnership can benefit all parties. A series of gradual steps (sending out a pamphlet, follow up with a research report, invitation for a workshop etc.) builds trust and sets the foundation for effective joint action.

  3. Use appropriate media technologies

    4. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of technologies available to create and share knowledge. Many are based on the Internet and allow virtual communities to host discussions, forums, and post their research. It is important to keep in mind however that Internet access varies across the world and some locations have very slow connections or none at all. Regardless of the technology chosen, old-fashioned pen and paper or the latest electronic media, one must acknowledge that the technology itself has the ability to modify your message further.

    Traditional media, including pamphlets, reports, videos and such, remain a valuable tool. Often a small paper publication is an ideal way to introduce a stakeholder to your organization and alert them to the other resources available. As in all formats, attention should be paid to the style of writing and presentation: while a policy-maker may not respond well to a cartoon pamphlet, it might be ideal when dealing with illiterate community groups.

    There is a wealth of electronic media available, as discussed in a separate GWP Resource Center paper (click here). Generally, they can be grouped into dialogue and delivery packages. Dialogue tools, such as listservs and discussion groups, allow groups of people from all over the world to communicate very quickly and incorporate electronic documents and other media which would not be possible with teleconferencing or traditional meetings. Delivery tools include websites and mailing lists which allow you to tell a large audience about your activities and offer information for download. In either case, the important things to keep in mind are the needs of your audience and how technology can be used to fulfil that requirement.

  4. Evaluation

    5. This is perhaps the most important step. Implementing an engagement strategy, building partnerships, and using appropriate technologies will help increase your impact but without an effective evaluation program, you will have no way of knowing if it is working, and more importantly how it could be improved.

    Evaluation should be routine (at least once a year, ideally quarterly) and should address the goals and objectives set out in the engagement strategy. When considering specific impacts for evaluation, a variety of scales should be used: for example, are you reaching the desired geographic audience, with the right content, and achieving the desired outcomes. In addition to improving your activities, a thorough evaluation program will also build trust among partners and establish good donor relations.

    A key thing to keep in mind is that impact can be assessed in many different ways. Failure to change water use in the field this year may not be the failure it seems, if your organization has helped changed the broader policy environment for future action. Therefore while specific indicators are useful, they should not be overly relied upon and should be coupled with a holistic view of your impact over time.

Conclusion

This document has outlined the importance of knowledge, communications, and effective partnerships for GWP members. By following the recommendations above, your organization should gain a better understanding of how your work is used by stakeholders and what you can do to have maximum impact. There is a wide variety of material available on this topic so look around on the Net or ask us for advice.

Further Reading

IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) 2002. Impact evaluation: assessing the impact of policy-oriented social science research. Washington, USA: International Food Policy Research Institute. Download PDF.

Benton (Benton Foundation) 2001. Think it through: what it takes to design and fund an effective communications strategy.www.benton.org/Practice/Toolkit/thinkthru.html.

Creech H., Willard T. 2001. Strategic Intentions: Managing knowledge networks for sustainable development. Winnipeg, Canada: International Institute for Sustainable Development. Download PDF.
See also the IISD's Knowledge Networks page at http://www.iisd.org/networks/.

SDNP (Sustainable Development Network Program) 2002. SDNP Pakistan: successes in networking for development. http://www.sdnp.undp.org/stories/pakistan.html.

© 2003