Learning Spaces/ Reflection Forums Safe learning spaces are sessions where a group of people who are managing key processes and projects in the water sector meet with the purposes of reflection during or after project implementation. These are designed to offer sector stakeholders a chance to reflect in order to improve performance within particular projects.
Workshops and Training WIN-SA works with strategic partners to offer training and workshops on issues of relevance to improved water sector delivery. The workshops are designed to equip practitioners with tools for facilitating and driving programme and project implementation. Highlights to date are the Brokering Collaboration Course (2006), which equipped 26 change agents and drivers of collaboration with basic facilitation tools, over a 3 day period. The second highlight is the training of learning journey facilitators (2006) from 8 organisations in the sector. The 3rd highlight is the IWRM Series, which Promotes an understanding of IWRM among local governments through workshops, learning journeys and other WIN-SA Publications.
WIN Mailing List The WIN Mailing List is a database of sector partners that form part of the Network including its target audience. It is subdivided into different categories, for example, Sanitation, Sector Collaboration, Civil Society, Local Government Councillors, Local government officials. The Mailing List is utilised for sending out the latest WIN publications and information updates on a quarterly basis. The List is also used by various stakeholders in the Network to share their information with local government. To join the WIN Mailing List, please send an email to
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WIN-SA Portal The WIN-SA Portal is an interactive search tool that promotes access to water sector information and knowledge. It is a gateway that leads water sector practitioners to innovative work that is made available through the WIN-SA Network. WIN-SA hosts partner websites on its site, one example is the District Water Managers Forum site (www.dwsmf.org.za). Visit the new look website and post your comments.
WIN-SA Repurposed Documents With this product, WIN-SA aims to repurpose technical documents such as guidelines and reports that are produced by its partners into accessible summaries that are meant to provide basic information on the subject matter to the local government readership. Highlights to date are “ A guide for cooperation with CMAs, for Local Government and “ A guide for cooperation with local government: A guide for CMAs”.
WIN-SA Learning Journeys Learning Journeys are visits to other organisations in order to learn and improve your own organisation and its performance.
Why learning journeys? We can learn a great deal from the experience and good practice examples of others that can accelerate learning and development in our organisations. This is more efficient than “trying to re-invent the wheel”. However many expensive study tours and the like don’t deliver the expected benefits. Often the tour over-shadows the study, and even when useful things are learnt, these are often not implemented ‘back home’.
There is no doubt that organisations can learn a great deal from the good practice of others, rather than struggling alone, however there is a danger that these expeditions become a form of tourism for participants- a chance to get away from work, at the expense of the organization, rather than a source of real learning that is implemented to benefit the organization. Study tours and the like are costly exercises, and it is essential to ensure that they are a worthwhile investment, which is only the case if they lead to significant improvement.
A real learning journey starts in your own organisation with an assessment of needs, followed by thorough planning and preparation before the actual visit. It ends with a formal review and written report on what has been learned, plus recommendations that lead to implementation of learning and real improvements.
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