Themes
IRC and partners have identified a number of areas where they believe the existing information is insufficient and that there is a need to generate new knowledge. This is done through collaborative work such as literature reviews, advocacy meetings, publications and information sharing workshops.
Participatory Management
Building on its deep knowledge of participatory approaches, Participatory Management focuses on the development and use of various assessment methods for the effective and efficient planning of new services and for the monitoring of existing ones, at both community and district levels. In many cases this can be done in combination with computer management tools. Based on the success of the Methodology for Participatory Assessment (MPA), a new flexible system called Qualitative Information System (QIS) has been developed that enables quantification of people's perceptions of project progress and processes, while Action Monitoring for Effectiveness (aMe) can help to make short term improvements in project effectiveness at the lowest appropriate level.
Knowledge Management
In the development sector Knowledge Management (KM) is seen as promising and a way forward. In this section you will find resources on KM and results from practical application of KM.
Capacity Development
Decentralisation has shifted roles and responsibilities to local governments and stakeholders. Many of these actors struggle with their newly assigned roles for which they are not fully 'equipped' in terms of financial resources, knowledge, methodologies, tools and experiences. Strengthening these intermediate actors is crucial to achieving good governance.
Learning Alliances
The Learning Alliances methodology allows implementation of successful innovations on a large scale. Practitioners and researchers involved and interested in Learning Alliances are invited to share practical experiences and to further develop the concept.
Resource Centre Development
Resource Centre Development is one of the process areas through which IRC wants to improve change processes in local WASH governance. IRC and its main Southern partners have started to work together on what we have called Resource Centre Development (RCD) since the mid nineties, analysing the potential of information – and knowledge management for improving the performance of the different sector stakeholders.
