The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Knowledge Management for Mountain Development

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Author

  • Zbigniew Mikolajuk (Guest Ed.)
Published by the Kathmandu, Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), this newsletter shares some resources and experiences of the Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) initiative of this mountain learning and knowledge centre. ICIMOD's IKM Programme works to make mountain knowledge accessible to, and usable for, partners, policy-makers, advocates, and development practitioners as part of an effort to foster action and change for overcoming mountain people's economic, social and physical vulnerability.

This ICIMOD Newsletter (No. 47) begins with a list of 15 knowledge management (KM) resources, with brief synopses of, and links to, each one. For instance, "Knowledge Management Initiatives around the Globe" is an article by "leading thinker Karl-Erik Sveiby" which defines KM by looking at 40 KM initiatives from around the world. And links to such sites as "ABC of KM", "Glossary of KM Terms", and "KM Tools" provide additional background.

The opening "Letter from the Director General" provides some background on KM and ICIMOD's work in this area. A key point made here is that "The most essential element of knowledge management is the human factor: how do people share tacit knowledge - their personal knowledge and experience. Knowledge networks are one approach. They are not solutions in themselves, but rather systems that facilitate knowledge-sharing and collaborative problem-solving." The author of this Letter notes that new computer-based technologies can be powerful KM methods, but that traditional tools such as books, tape recorders, writing tools, filing systems, libraries, and direct human communications "are still most vivid and vibrant."

Following this introductory material, the Newsletter includes articles from contributors, with the following titles:
  • Basics of Information and Knowledge Management
  • Information Knowledge Management at ICIMOD - A Strategy Framework
  • Knowledge Networking for Development
  • The Mountain Knowledge Partnership in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas
  • Managing Knowledge with Context Technology
  • Case Study in Knowledge Management: Agricultural Market Information Services in Bhutan
  • Institutional Profile: Bangladesh Institute of Theatre Arts
A series of ICIMOD organisational news items concludes the publication.

Publishers

Number of Pages

44

Source

Email from Zbigniew Mikolajuk to The Communication Initiative on January 8 2007; and the ICIMOD website.

PDFLink
http://www.icimod.org/home/uploads/publications/ath_50.pdf