At the FSN Knowledge Sharing Meeting in Washington DC on November 15, 2012, Agrilinks had the opportunity to catch up with Sarah Schmidt from the Capitalizing Knowledge, Connecting Communities (CK2C) Project implemented by Development Alternatives, Inc (DAI).  The CK2C project manages and implements FRAMEweb, a community of practice (CoP) for natural resource management practitioners. CK2C is about to celebrate a milestone ten year anniversary, and can proudly boast a  2,600 strong community of practioners. With versions in English, Spanish, and French, FRAMEweb has a staggering 70% of it's member-base participating from the Global South. Inside FRAMEweb participants submit questions and topics regarding natural resource management, development practitioners within the community respond to their inquiries. Members can also choose to subscribe to discussions, topics, webinars, and can receive realtime alerts via email. The CK2C project also asks their community members how they use and apply FRAMEweb to their own initiatives. One of the highlights of FRAMEweb is the GIS visualization software which overlays global data sets that allow users to crowdsource best practices for their own development projects.  FRAMEweb emphasizes that knowledge management (KM) is a tool for development, not of development.

Schmidt listed her key takeaways from FRAMEweb as the following: 

1. Knowledge is in the field. Do not discount technology's capability to connect knowledge sources.
2. Spreading knowledge works on familiar web-based applications, such as email.
3. KM practitioners should promote tools through email blasts, social media, webinars, and other cost effective technologies.

To learn more about FRAMEweb please visit the website and sign-up for one of the leading USAID-funded NRM communities available on the web.