WiserEarth Editors

Cross-listed: WiserEarth Suggestions and Conservation Yellow Pages

Problem Statement:

People want to easily find the best approach for solving a problem. The issue is that its hard to find these best practices - they are all over the internet in different websites, or as MS Word or PDF based manuals.

Proposed Approach:

• A directory of high quality, peer reviewed, best practices (called solutions prior to review) tagged using a standard taxonomy of problem and actions categories
• Where solutions are described in a networked context showing relationships to practitioners, consultants, funders, case studies, organizations and groups.
• Where a high level of community participation provides feedback and improves the quality of best practices over time.
• Where incentives exists for the community to develop new best practices where gaps exist.

Status of this Suggestion:

Functionality that would permit any Community of Practice to develop a directory of solutions for their area of knowledge will be coded over the next couple of months. This programming will be part of a project to create a Directory of Conservation Best Practices called the Conservation Yellow Pages. With this ‘suggestion wiki’ we hope to reach out to the wider WE community to test the design and solicit improvements. This is in some ways one of the first new functionalities that will be available to the WE community to use as a result of open sourcing the platform.

by angusparker

More Info:

•         What is a Best Practice?

–        A technique or methodology that, through replication and evaluation, has proven to be the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task in a given setting.

•         Who can submit a Best Practice?

–        Anyone can recommend a best practice to the community by submitting its details online. We encourage people who did not create the Best Practice to make those that did aware that the Best Practice is being catalogued on Wiser Earth.

•         Does a Best Practice have to be peer reviewed?

–        Solutions can remain unreviewed but a Best Practice requires a review. Reviewed solutions (now called Best Practices) will be more likely to be noticed and used by WiserEarthlings.

•         How is a Best Practice reviewed and approved?

–        Once the data around a practice has been collected as a solution it can be sent for review to one of the existing WE Review panels. At first only a few of these will exist but over time it is hope more communities of practice will want to participate on WE. Once submitted for review, the review panel will take up to four weeks to conduct its research. Besides a document review, the panel will interview the Best Practice creator, at least one Best Practice implementer, and the Best Practice endorser for input.

–        Best Practices will be either (a) Accepted with no modifications, (b) Provisionally Accepted with requested modifications, or (c) Rejected with causes given.

•         Who ‘owns’ the Best Practice?

–        The person or group on Wiser Earth that recommended the Best Practice has administrative rights to edit the Best Practice. However, as part of the public publishing process the original author of the Best Practice will be informed of the entry on Wiser Earth and  she/he be encouraged to take ownership or co-ownership of the Wiser Earth entry.

•         How is the Best Practice kept updated?

–        Any ‘owner’ of a Best Practice can make updates to reflect changes to the materials and to incorporate community feedback. The community can contribute to the ‘network’ by showing new relationships links between the best practice and people, projects, case studies, organizations and groups. Every year a reminder email will be sent to the ‘owner’ and to the ‘contact person/creator’ to encourage an update to the materials.

•         How can I provide feedback and improve a Best Practice?

–        Anyone can provide a comment to a Best Practice. These comments are automatically sent via email to the people who manage the Best Practice.

–        If you have implemented a Best Practice you are encouraged to provide a Project Case Study example. Your responses will be forwarded to those that manage the Best Practice.

•         Best Practice should have been implemented successfully in at least three different projects

•         Best Practice should be endorsed by at least one other organization or group within the relevant community

•         Best Practice should be replicable by its intended audience

–        The resources (leadership, labor, finances etc) are in keeping with the capabilities of the types of organizations, groups or people that are intended to implement the Best Practice.

•         Best Practice should be complete

–        Key Info, Problem, Action, Results, Limitations, Attachments, Project Case Studies and Network sections should be filled out as best as is possible

•         Best Practice should be the ‘Best’

–        No alternative technique or method is both more efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) in accomplishing a task in the same setting.