IKN-Network
(International Knowledge Network for Sustainable Development)

South - South - North Network for Sustainable Development in Countries of the South. International Knowledge Network for Sustainable Development

Our development plan is a project with the aim of promoting sustainable development in weakly structured rural regions of countries in the South. A concept for implementing the original plan of the Haitian Dr. Anthony Etienne was developed together with his students of the Berlin University of Technology (TU-Berlin) in 2000. Since Dr. Etienne's death the idea has been taken up and pursued by his colleague and friend sociology Professor Werner Siebel at the TU in Berlin. More Students, Alumnis and university staff from Berlin, Brandenburg, other European countries and several Southern countries have since become involved.

In Spring 2003 an educational visit was organized to meet potential partners in Cuba, at the University Sancti Spiritus. During that visit, we agreed to take the original idea even further and draft a larger framework, setting the plan into a cross-disciplinary international and cooperative working process. Several researcher of different departments of our university are now involved. The integrational development plan focuses on the study of the conditions and the development of measures taken for Capacity Building and Capacity Development by countries in the network. Within the context of the project, Capacity Building is understood to be a cooperative process, based on sustainability and subsidiary, meaning help to help oneself, and to generate and exchange knowledge between both sides.

Specific regional and endogenous social and cultural resources are to be identified, internationally and scientifically exchanged, and then to be applied when problems on a regional level need to be solved. In Order to support a continual exchange of information, the network will identify common issues and particular research subjects based on the most important points (to be discussed below) for comparative study.

This will not only benefit the Southern hemisphere countries involved, but will also help industrialized western European countries to develop and expand their cultural competence and understanding of global processes. The knowledge gained through this scientific exchange will be integrated within natural science and technical studies at the TU Berlin. This will situate Capacity Building within an interdisciplinary hub of research and science and will aim to develop education, practical applications and a knowledge network.

The idea behind this integrated development plan is not to use specific technology to solve problems, but to analyze problems as they occur on the spot and then for local people to choose a suitable technical solution with the help of Knowledge Sharing Experts (Multiplikatorlnnen). The approach is problem-orientated and not technical-orientated, drawn on as needed, and drawing on local endogenous resources. Our cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach will bring together social studies and the technical/natural sciences, scientists and those with hands-on expertise

So far the following fields have been identified as major themes:

• Renewable and decentralized sources of energy
• Water supply and hygiene in housing settlements
• Living-Constructing-Architecture
• Regional planning
• Nutrition
• Sustainable Tourism
• Social and economical strategies, financial support
• Organizing and communicating within the network
• Financing, administration and management