Current Students and Staff

// University News

2 Apr 2015

Sharing expertise on knowledge management in the voluntary sector at Loughborough University

The ways in which knowledge is managed in the voluntary sector came under the spotlight at a free event held at Loughborough University.

Staff and senior management from a wide range of organisations including Rolls Royce, HM Treasury, the RAF, WaterAid and Scope, among others, attended the Knowledge Management in the Voluntary Sector event at the University’s Clyde Williams Building recently.

Rt Hon Nicky Morgan, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Loughborough, opened the networking event which was organised by the School of Business and Economics to showcase best practice, and encourage organisations from the not-for-profit, private and public sectors to learn from each other’s experiences in knowledge management.

Guest speakers discussed the benefits and challenges of managing knowledge in the voluntary sector and shared their own experiences with delegates.

Vipin Chauhan and Sally Hall from Charnwood Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) revealed more about Charnwood Connect – a Big Lottery funded project supported by the University, which encourages joint working between voluntary and public sector organisations to achieve more for service users and providers.

Jacqueline Rees, Head of Information Management, Risk and Governance at The Guinness Partnership, discussed the progress that the housing association has made and the challenges it has faced since it established an information and knowledge management strategy.

Also sharing their approaches to knowledge management were speakers Brian Steenson and Walter Mansfield from Save the Children, and Dr Raphaela Stadler from the University of Hertfordshire, who talked about the importance of informal knowledge sharing in the running of volunteer-led festivals. Dr Mike Colechin from the Energy Technologies Institute and Stuart McRae from IBM gave their thoughts on the day’s topics and conversations.

Dr Gillian Ragsdell, Senior Lecturer in Knowledge Management at Loughborough University, said: “It was a very productive and enjoyable day which I designed on knowledge management principles. There were plenty of opportunities for interaction and it was interesting to hear how similar the knowledge management challenges are in the various sectors. Plenty of ideas were shared for how to implement knowledge strategies successfully, and I’m sure the interactions will continue as the new learning is reflected upon and put into practice.”