GDRC - Serendipitous Tags

Serendipity to the rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:56:00 +0000

One of 6,600+ people who come to GDRC's website every day, an online visitor is confronted with 15 programmes and approximately 130 sub-themes, 7,900 files, 42,000 links, and more ... talk about information overload!

But for GDRC, this volume of information simply represents the varied and interlinked research interests of its Virtual Fellows and Institutional Partners. However, keeping it updated, current and interesting is a never-ending and uphill task.

For the casual visitor, information packaging is all the more important. GDRC looses out a bit here, due to (1) lack of a strong search mechanism (besides the all-encompassing Google Search);and (2) lack of 'wrappers' or overviews/summaries that help contextualize and interlink info together.

Mmm ... more work to do, but so much more for Serendipity. And for the a-ha! to happen.

More than just imprints ...

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:33:00 +0000

Here's a serendipitous tag for you - footprints. Not the footprints-in-the-sand variety, but the imprint you leave on the planet as a result of resources consumed and wastes generated. The ecological overshoot that our lifestyles are generating is cause for much concern, and in fact the real starting point for sustainability action.

Forget global warning or CO2 emissions. To reduce our footprints, what information would you need? What decisions would you have to take? How can everyone be involved - rich and poor? What solutions - technology and skills - are out there? What can businesses and consumers do?

Read more about footprints at: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/index.html

Increasing Social Capital

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:11:00 +0000

Though not (yet) a part of GDRC's programmes, the concept of social capital is an interesting precondition to many of the themes and issues that are covered in its 15 programmes. Social capital is formed out of "the networks of relationships among persons, firms, and institutions in a society, together with associated norms of behavior, trust, cooperation, etc., that enable a society to function effectively."

Take microfinance - much of its success lies in the presence of social capital within the communities that use microfinance. Effective disaster risk reduction practices have succeeded in some communities, but failed in others - research has shown that success has depended on the level and strength of social capital in the community. Active involvement of the community in heritage and conservation efforts have also largely been affected by the pride that the community feels about their locality - another vote for its social capital.

And sustainable development itself - if it has to happen, will happen at the community level. And in the daily decisions and consumption patterns that we adopt. Concern for our neighbours, for the community and for future generations can easily be activated when social capital is high ...

Maybe its time for the Sustainable Development programme of GDRC to pick up this thread of thought and create a new feature page!

The Informality of Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:17:00 +0000

A serendipitous tag that always sticks to my mind is that of the informal economic sector - always there, invisible but necessary, and unsupported but functioning.

Much needs to be tagged to the sector - poverty alleviation, education and health, training and skill development, market development, but also social issues such as gender etc.

Recently, the informal sector also got mentioned in disaster management - how does the question of "business continuity" be asked of informal economic activities (when it is not recognized at all in the first place)? Considering that most of the people in the sector are from the lower economic rungs? No easy answers there, but needs exploring ...

See GDRC's programme page on the informal sector

Better urban mobility - and poverty alleviation.

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:32:00 +0000

An interesting piece of news on the link between providing good mobility (in terms of walking, bicycling, and public transport) and increasing the economic opportunities of low income people in cities, and hence poverty alleviation:

European Urban Knowledge Network - "Promote bicycling, walking and public transport to improve chances for poor people":
08-06-2007

How can transport policy contribute to the goal of more inclusive cities? What role does the car play in ensuring mobility for all?"

The Externalities of Tourism

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:16:00 +0000

I subscribe to several tourism-related email lists, particularly those related to ATLAS [www.atlas-euro.org]. In the range of activities, events and publications that are being carried out in this field, it was interesting to see a large cross-section of topics being synchronized with tourism.

Of particular significance is how the research and development activities on tourism are being linked to economic development (but of course ...), but also to heritage conservation and environmental/ecological preservation. Clearly, the multiplier effects of one sector has implications and advantages (or disadvantages) for other sectors as well.

GDRC works on all the three themes - tourism, heritage and environment - but in separate silos. it will be interesting to bring them together in a Special Feature.

Leadership Matters - Vision, Effectiveness and Accountability

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:56:00 +0000

A key aspect of the GDRC Programme on Urban Governance is that of leaders and leadership. And so the title of a recent World Bank Institute's meeting theme struck my eye as a good set of leadership 'matters':

VISION: Does the leader have a vision for the future? Does it match the wishes, needs and aspirations of the community that he/she leads?

EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the leader in delivering on his/her promises? How capable ha she/she been in accomplishing stated goals and objectives?

ACCOUNTABILITY: How has the leader set up accountability in his/her working? Who is he/she accountable for? with respect to the community he/she serves?

These and many more of such attributes drive a good leader in being able to deliver to his/her constituency, their wishes and aspirations!

Go to GDRC's programme on Urban Governance

National policies for NGOs in India

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:33:00 +0000

The voluntary sector in most developing countries (including NGOs, CBO etc.) are in a double dilemma - on one hand, many of the rules and regulations that they have to adhere to actually originate from the for-profit private sector. On the other, the bad actions of some of the NGOs taints the sector as a whole, calling for stricter monitoring and enforcement of the rules and regulations.

It is good to see some change in attitudes and approaches towards the sector, but much more needs to be done!

PIB Press Release: National Policy on the Voluntary Sector 2007

Send your comments to me at hsrinivas@gdrc.org.

The Info-design Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 05:08:00 +0000

Packaging information properly so as to facilitate its contextualizing and customizing by the user to create tacit knowledge is an iterative cycle. Where is information available? Who has it? How can we match user needs with information available? What are the interlinakages between the different pieces of information? What enhancements can be envisaged to the info patterns? How can the products developed be improved further? How can the info products be delivered to the user? These are some of the questions that are covered in the cycle.

Ultimately, good information management is an aid to decision-making, of understanding what and how information is used, and developing a channel to deliver it to the user. Based on a user-needs assessment, information is collated and analyzed to build patterns. The iterative process is repeated by incorporating feedback and review it until it matches the needs of the user. This is the 'Information Desgin Cycle'

Welcome to "Serenditous Tags"

noreply@blogger.com (Hari Srinivas) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:04:00 +0000

Welcome to the GDRC Blog, "Serendipitous Tags"

In this complex world of ours, problems that we face may not be the 'real' problem - there will always be problems behind problems, and so solutions that we propose should beget more solutions. It is this interconnectedness that lies at the core of everything that GDRC does.

The multi-disciplinarity of GDRC’s 15 programmes help in discovering the connections and associations among different issues not apparent at first. This is the thinking that went into the creation of this blog – Serendipitous Tags – in making unexpected links when tagging different pieces of knowledge.