Knowledge Sharing for Sustainable Development as a Strategic Enabler

The development which is sustainable in nature gets much more faster if and when organizations rely on the collective experience rather than making new discoveries through different channels independently. Knowledge sharing for sustainable development quickens the solving of problems, lessens efforts that are alike and lets organizations rely on the already tested methods instead of being forced to create new ones. The institutions that share their information, methodologies, and the lessons learned form the conditions for more efficient and effective movements towards the sustainability goals.

The Economic Forum for Sustainable Development (EFSD) has included the knowledge sharing for sustainable development in its mission as a cornerstone. Nevertheless, the isolated efforts, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot tackle the sustainability issues with the required scale and speed. The collaborative learning through the structured knowledge exchange permits the organizations to develop and implement the strategies that are informed by the wider experience than what any single institution could gather independently. Explore Our Approach page for more information about EFSD’s structured methodology for facilitating knowledge exchange.

Why Knowledge Sharing Matters for Sustainability Progress

The process of sustainable development through knowledge sharing in organizations brings about the creation of multiple conditions that are good for the acceleration of their progress more than what they could have achieved by isolating themselves. The organizations that gain knowledge from one another can avoid the defects that have already been experienced, get the state-of-the-art practices quicker and at the same time create the solutions which are more effective in dealing with the shared problems.

Knowledge sharing has one of the largest advantages in the form of the reduction of uncertainty, which is most probably the case of all the organizations who are deep into the struggle of obtaining their sustainability objectives doing so with the help of decisions that are not very transparent in terms of results. Are they going to invest their money in particular technologies?

The strategy development that is based on evidence is greatly improved when the organizations have access to the knowledge beyond their direct experience. The challenges of sustainability are constantly changing as the conditions of the environment change, the technologies advance, and the social expectations change. No individual organization can produce enough evidence across all the pertinent areas to inform comprehensive sustainability strategies. Knowledge sharing for sustainable development combines the collective evidence, thus making the strategy development more powerful than individual organizations could ever do independently.

The accountability that comes with the transparency created by knowledge sharing is one of the main issues around the approaches, outcomes, and lessons learned. Organizations that are carrying out knowledge sharing openly show that they are confident in their methods and invite peers to scrutinize their practices. This openness establishes trust and generates peer accountability that is in addition to the formal reporting requirements.

How Knowledge Sharing Generates Sustainable Outcomes

The use of organized knowledge sharing for the purpose of sustainable development in organizations brings about the various benefits that not only provide support in the case of sustainability performance but also give the organization strategic capabilities.

Decision-making is made a lot better when the leaders can get information on what approaches have worked and which have not in similar situations. Decision-makers no longer need to depend on theoretical analysis or limited internal experience as they can use collective learning from multiple organizations. This larger evidence base allows for more informed decisions to be made regarding sustainability investments, methods, and targets.

The quality of the collaboration is pronounced when knowledge sharing among the partners creates a shared understanding. A typical sustainability project would need to manage the input of organizations with different specialties, priorities, and working environments. If the partners do not share knowledge about their methods, limitations, and potential, they will probably end up with an incompatibility situation after the commitments are made instead of designing their collaborative efforts taking these realities into consideration.

The process of capacity building can be done very quickly by sharing knowledge. There are times when organizations would have to go through a very long process of trial and error to acquire the same capabilities that would have been done through learning from the others who have faced the same challenges and have helped each other with their learning process. The fast-tracking of this process is especially beneficial to organizations in areas or fields where practice with sustainability is still not developed much. They are still able to use proven methods instead of starting the developmental process from the very beginning.

Creating Effective Knowledge Sharing Systems

Successful knowledge sharing for sustainable development involves good-will but much more. It also requires the existence of systematically structured and, at the same time, very diverse knowledge, that is, in all aspects, the above-mentioned and other.

Documentation practices must balance comprehensiveness and usability. On one hand, organizations need great detail to comprehend and change the knowledge that has been shared. On the other hand, they must not face such a complexity that knowledge becomes inaccessible. Good documentation is not only informing about actions taken but also stating the reasons for the choice of particular methods, mentioning the alternatives and the factors that influenced the outcomes.

Translation capacities are the one that helps the organizations to make knowledge from other contexts suitable for their precise locations. The sharing of knowledge is the most valuable when it allows adaptation instead of just replication. However, the organizations will need the instructions on what parts of the shared knowledge are easily transferable to other contexts and which will need to be modified extensively.

The exchange platforms should make it possible to both discover and conduct a dialogue at the same time. The organizations will find it necessary to look for the relevant knowledge in the middle of the vast amounts of possibly available information. Along with that, they would need opportunities to ask questions, get clarifications, and do dialogues with the sources of knowledge rather than just simply reading the static documentation.

Trust-building is a process that can take some time and effort but it is the only way to go for knowledge sharing about the hard times and failures together with the good times and successes. The organizations feel the need to protect their reputations and thus they tend to keep quiet about the things they did not work out due to worries about their reputation. A secure sharing of ways out of difficulties without being judged is an invitation to more comprehensive and so much more valuable knowledge exchange. This accelerated learning is particularly valuable when combined with Quality Management for Sustainability, ensuring that adopted practices meet rigorous standards

The Forum’s Role in Facilitating Knowledge Exchange

EFSD is the one which develops the platforms and also the frameworks through which the knowledge sharing for sustainable development is carried out in its network efficiently. The EFSD through research synthesis, convening activities and advisory services is the one that organizational bodies get access to not just the relevant knowledge but also the channels for sharing their own learning with others.

The Forum is the one that advocates for the knowledge sharing based on the structured approaches, which then are the ones that make the development of the collective learning to be actionable. The EFSD is the one that helps the partners come up with the consistent methods and tools that facilitate the knowledge comparison and adaptation among different contexts. This standardization, together with the allowance for the specific context to adapt to, ensures that the shared knowledge will be of great value in the overall development of the organization.

The EFSD is the one that also organizes the peer learning networks where the organizations that are facing similar challenges can be the ones that are exchanging knowledge directly. The structured exchanges can even provide a deeper knowledge transfer than the general publication, as the participants can ask very specific questions and even go into the particulars that are only relevant to their specific situations.

If the organizations are interested to take part in the knowledge sharing initiatives of EFSD or to learn more about the collaboration opportunities, they are welcomed to contact us.

Building Collective Intelligence for Sustainability

The sharing of knowledge for the sustainable development is not merely the transfer of information. It is a strategic investment in the collective capability that accelerates the coming of the times when isolated efforts would deem to be too late; hence, it is nothing but progress. The organizations that engage in structured knowledge transfer exchange, in particular, their power of planning quality improvement along with the operational efficiency enhancement, and they are able to create the measurable progress faster than the independent ones that work through isolation. Organizations interested in participating in EFSD’s knowledge sharing initiatives or exploring collaboration opportunities are welcome to contact us