Knowledge development and Dissemination through Learning Organizations

Location: Bagli tehsil of Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh

Partner NGO/institution: Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) is a grassroots people’s organisation headquartered in the Bagli tehsil of Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, a remote, drought-prone, tribal area, which typifies the most difficult problems of the country. Water and livelihood security, with central emphasis on long-term drought-proofing, is the thrust area of SPS. The SPS’s mandate is to mobilise rural communities and build their capacities to take over leadership of the development process from inception through execution to completion.

Date of commencement: July 2006

Expected Date of conclusion: June 2009

Summary 

The project addresses the need for building “learning organizations” at the grass-roots in India. Learning organizations are organizations that can assimilate and bring together insights from diverse sources and contexts and further disseminate fresh knowledge to the most effective agents of change at the grass-roots. They also search, identify and select partners at the grass-roots who could become the vehicles of transmission of this knowledge in diverse contexts across the length and breadth of India. For becoming these vehicles, the learning organization equips them, builds their capacities and goes on to hand-hold these partners in the field for a number of years.

Why This Project?

• Decentralization is being given a thrust in most Government and donor-funded projects. So it is essential to build capacities at the grass-roots.
• To make sure that local NGOs develop sufficient capacity to become an engine of transmission of knowledge in their respective areas of operation.

Target group

NGOs involved in water-related development activities.

Activities Planned: 

• Develop partnerships with institutions that can help build a knowledge-base for the drylands of India in water-related issues.
• Develop a knowledge-base in different media such as manuals, films, computerised software etc.
• Address the knowledge-development needs of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by preparing wide range of training material.
• Sharing of knowledge with these carefully identified partners through training programmes and on-site field support.
  

Project status:

Ongoing