knowledge fairs

Knowledge Fairs

Knowledge Fairs are joyful learning event, bringing together a group of people who wish to learn and share their experiences. The guiding principle is that all of us have something to learn and something to share. There are no experts, no Powerpoints.

During a Knowledge Fair, people draw strength and inspiration from the experience of others. They build relationships that last, so the sharing goes on after the event and people collaborate to tackle common challenges.

We create a conductive environment to share experiences. A few examples:
- We place chairs in a circle and participants discuss in small groups
- We usually conduct a SALT visit so that people have a shared experience to discuss and connect on a human level
- We provide a space for organizations to display poster about what their organisation does and achieves, people can sell products for fund-raising

Here is an example of how to structure a Knowledge Fair:

1. We practice to tell our story

Before or during the Knowledge Fair, participants improve the way they tell their own stories. Facilitators make sure that everyone feels comfortable telling their story.

2. Make groups

Participants share about the topics with the biggest potential for learning and sharing. If all participants have done their self-assessment, those who assessed themselves high for one practice and those who assessed themselves low for the same practice will meet.

3. Small group discussions

Each group discusses about one practice or topic. Everyone shares his/her experience with this practice. We listen for commonalities, not differences. We identify common principles emerging from our individual experiences.

4. Building Knowledge Assets

Once we identified the common principles we link them to the individual stories and build what we call a Knowledge Asset.

Here is an extract of a Knowledge asset about 'Linking care and prevention':

Common principles	Experiences	Contact
If target groups take the lead in care and prevention strategies, responses will be more creative, effective and sustainable.	It's not shampoo, it’s a condom! In Bombay, the AASDHA project took advice of sexworkers and made condom packages that look like shampoo packs to avoid the stigma around it.	Ishdeep Kohli
	Tuktuk drivers in Mattakkuliya give free rides to VCT centre. Through strong community involvement and use of music events, tuktuk drivers (amongst many others) cared for their passengers, provided prevention messages and referred people to VCT	Kalana Peiris

5. Capturing individual stories

Participants can capture their own stories on paper or on video. These stories will be linked to the corresponding knowledge asset and made available online for wider spread.

This video shows a meeting in Lyon (2004) where cities from all over the world came together to learn from each other. They used the AIDS Competence self-assessment as the starting point for sharing.

Joan Didier of the AIDS Action Foundation, St Lucia discusses what she wants to share...

....what she want to learn.

Read a peer-reviewed article about Knowledge Fair: 'Believing in the human capacity to respond to HIV and malaria: sharing experiences on a human level for global impact', by Schmitz, Gaston and Forth, Philip, Knowledge Management for Development Journal, 5;2, 173-184. 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis. Download the pre-print version for free.

Participate in the Global Knowledge Fair: 'IndiaCompetence, with SIAAP as a host, is inviting you to participate in the Constellations Global Knowledge Fair in Chennai, India from 20th to 24th November 2012.'. For further information please contact Rituu B Nanda rituu[@]communitylifecompetence.org