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Published on: 06/03/2012

Time to write: ‘Ugandan WASH sector writeshops as a tool to support knowledge sharing’

An abundance of innovative ideas and knowledge exist in the Ugandan water and sanitation (WASH) sector. Due mostly to a lack of time or confidence in writing skills, these insights are seldom put on paper and shared with a wider audience. To stimulate the distribution of knowledge that is generated in various projects and organisations in the Ugandan WASH sector, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre organised a three day ‘writeshop’ in February 2012. As a result of the writeshop, 21 outputs were created by the 21 participants from SNV Uganda, NETWAS Uganda, Caritas Gulu, the Uganda Rain Water Harvesting Association and IRC Uganda.

A writeshop is meant to provide time and support for a group of people to produce publishable outputs. In its essence it is a workshop where people sit down in one room together and individually write a variety of outputs based on the knowledge gained in their daily work. René van Lieshout, Programme Manager of the IRC Uganda Country Programme and initiator of the Uganda WASH sector writeshop says “A lot of interesting things are happening in our day to day work in various projects of partner organisations in Uganda. However, project staff often do not have the time or confidence in their skills to communicate to the sector about what is happening in the field. To achieve more impact we would like to improve communication to the sector and share new insights and thinking generated in the various projects”.  Mr. van Lieshout continues “One way to communicate with the sector is through written products. We have noticed that for some people writing is natural, for others it is more of a struggle. To encourage especially those who struggle to put their thoughts and ideas on paper we decided to organise a writeshop”.

Methodology of a writeshop

The methodology of a writeshop is very simple. The main strength lies in the fact that a group of people is doing the same type of work (writing products that are intended to be shared) at the same time, in the same space. This motivates participants, as they realise they are facing the same issues, and it also creates an environment where people can focus. One of the participants, Lydia Mirembe, communication and advocacy officer of the ‘Water Services that Last’ initiative Uganda, explains in the video “My colleagues who do not have communication in their job titles often suffer from a lack of confidence in writing skills. When you ask them to write even a simple article they say, oh that is not my job. Putting them in one room together for three days in this writeshop has helped them to start overcoming their fear of writing and come up with written products”.

 

 Lydia Mirembe communication and advocacy officer of Triple-S Uganda

Writeshops or writing weeks, as they were first called, started in 2011 with a group of researchers in IRC’s WASHCost project. Catarina Fonseca, the WASHCost Project Director recalls “In the WASHCost project we were struggling in 2011 to finalise written outputs. We noticed that it was difficult to focus on writing in our day to day work as we were often busy going to meetings and answering e-mails and phone calls. The process of revision and getting feedback from colleagues on draft documents also took a long time as everybody was engaged with the on-going analysis of data. We therefore decided to go away from the office for a week with a small group of researchers to focus on finalising certain outputs. We noticed that within the short period of a week, we came out with several finalised papers and briefing notes. The exchange of ideas throughout the days and blocking e-mail during the day worked quite well. We realised that we would have never been able to manage this if we would have been in the office”.

Process Documentation

The Ugandan writeshop was a follow up to the 5-day Process Documentation for the WASH Workshop that was organised by IRC in September 2011 in Kampala. The writeshop was an opportunity to consolidate the information that was collected by the various contributing organisations and projects at the WASH Workshop into shareable products. Process Documentation is a systematic way of collecting information on what is happening in a project (or process) and reflecting on how it has happened. The writeshop was intended to make participants see the value of documentation of what is happening on the ground in Uganda. One of the writeshop participants, Charles Okello of Charitas Uganda, says “Never in my life did I discover that we are doing a lot and we are not documenting it. I believe documentation is a very vital process in concluding the wonders that are happening on the ground”.

 

Charles Okello of Charitas Uganda

The Process Documentation for WASH Workshop  and the writeshop are both the result of further collaboration of IRC, SNV and their partnering organisation in the Uganda WASH sector (see box 1).

 Box 1 Joint Uganda WASH sector programme

The Uganda WASH sector writeshop is one of the first initiatives of the new joint Uganda WASH sector programme of IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and SNV The Netherlands Development Organisation in Uganda. The joint WASH sector programme started in January 2012 as a programmatic collaboration of IRC and SNV in their activities in the WASH sector. One of the main objectives of the joint WASH sector programme of IRC and SNV is to stimulate the sharing of experiences and knowledge in the Ugandan WASH sector.

Both organisations have been collaborating since 2006 on a number of initiatives focused around enhancing learning at decentralised levels in the Ugandan WASH sector. Based on this collaboration, both organisations recognized in 2011 that they shared a similar vision. René van Lieshout, Programme Manager of the IRC Uganda Country Programme and co-initiator of the joint WASH sector programme explains “We saw that there is a lot of complementarity between IRC and SNV in Uganda. SNV has a lot of local capacity and presence on the ground through their capacity building activities at regional and district level in partnership with mostly local NGO’s. IRC’s strength lies at the national level, with knowledge sharing, action research and sector coordination. IRC also brings in global   WASH expertise. With this collaboration we hope to better support the WASH sector in Uganda”.

The Uganda writeshop resulted in a range of products from case studies to articles, briefing notes, policy briefs and blogs to fact sheets and full discussion papers. The key to the success of a writeshop is the preparation by participants (see box 2). It is essential that before the start of a writeshop, each participant clearly defines which output(s) he or she intends to produce and brings all the information needed at the start with him/her. To facilitate the preparation by participants, several months before a writeshop an overview is shared among the group where they list what output they intend to write, for who, what information still needs to be collected etc. This overview of outputs is then continuously updated and shared among the group before the start of the writeshop, during and after, until all outputs are published.

Box 2 Success factors of a writeshop

For a writeshop to be successful in delivering sharable outputs it is important to:

  • Prepare in advance: all participants need to decide in advance what product they want to work on and collect all information necessary to write their output before the start
  • Participants need to feel comfortable: their own desk with space to spread out papers, each participant has their own laptop, a quiet well-lit area to work, enough power plugs for all laptops etc
  • Facilitate peer-review among participants: have one or two facilitators present who are able to support participants at any point of the writing process and when no support is needed, to write themselves
  • If resources allow, rent a location away from the day to day working environment: a change of scenery helps concentration and focus. When working in the office, participants are often distracted by questions from other colleagues.

 To avoid distractions:

  •   No email/internet during the blocks of writing time
  •   If you need to talk or make a phone call, step out of the room
  •   Tea and coffee is available when needed but there are no set tea breaks
  •   An hour is allocated for lunch and this creates an opportunity for any urgent e-mails or phone calls

Facilitation at a writeshop is minimal. Group sessions are limited to three short sessions a day (start, middle and end of the day) and the organisation of peer-review among participants (example programme). In the group sessions, participants can share their progress (and struggles) with the group and ask questions and request support in the form of peer review.

In writeshops a lot of time is allocated to peer-reviewing each others' outputs and if applicable (for example in action research projects), to discussing research findings. For example, in the writing weeks of the WASHCost project, the team gets together every day after lunch for an hour to debate on a particular topic. Catarina Fonseca explains “When you are writing a paper you often get stuck at a certain point. It helps to be able to bounce your thoughts with your colleagues. These discussions often generate new insights”.  Or as Esther Piracel of Netwas Uganda shares in the video “Normally I lose a lot of time getting feedback. In the writeshop I received feedback right there and then. That was life changing for me and made my work easier”.

 

Esther Piracel of Netwas Uganda

Writing is intensive and tiring. Working days should therefore not exceed eight hours. This gives participants time to write e-mails and rest for the next day. Writeshops can vary in length, but are usually no longer than three to five days so that people can stay focused and their daily work is not disrupted too much.

In many projects team members are spread across the world and only physically meet once or twice a year. It is often hard to stay connected and in touch with new ideas that arise in large teams. Organising a writeshop can be a way to synchronise thinking in a project as participants share their ideas and thoughts on paper. If an internet connection allows, it is also possible for people to join from a distance and call in during the group sessions. Peer review can take place via e-mail.

The writeshop has inspired some participants to organise a similar event for their own project staff. Solomon Kyeyune and Esther Piracel of Netwas Uganda have started to think about organising similar workshops. Kyeyune and Piracel explain on video:

 

Solomon Kyeyune Netwas Uganda

 

 

Esther Piracel of Netwas Uganda

IRC will facilitate a second edition of the Uganda WASH sector writeshop in September 2012. For more information on writeshops, contact verhoeven@irc.nl

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