"Online Consultation: Key stakeholders and role-players in the sanitation sector"


Through this online consultation we are interested in collecting fresh information and opinions about the main issues that hinder the processes of knowledge assimilation, transfer and brokerage in the sanitation sector.

You are kindly asked to express your opinion on the significance of each factor and to report new ones, in order to complete the “mapping process” of phenomena related to knowledge brokerage in sanitation.

At the end of each section, you are also asked to add your comments, if any.

To participate is easy: you just have to select one of the three areas of knowledge brokerage (see below) and answer the questions. The time expected to complete the consultation is about 15 minutes.

The consultation will be active on our BESSE website until 23rd July 2010.

SKIP INTRO [go directly to the menu for accessing the consultation grid]



Introduction – Knowledge Brokerage and Sanitation


Notwithstanding the availability of new knowledge, most sanitation approaches in Europe are still based on technologies and management systems developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. These approaches and systems do not adequately respond to the sustainability or sustainable development needs and demands of the 21st century, being those concerning energy costs; the reduction of environmental impact of sanitation, etc. In Europe, there is thus an obvious gap between knowledge produced in scientific research areas and the knowledge that is being employed.

In this context, a set of European research institutions promoted, under the EC 7th Research Framework Programme, the project “Brokering Environmentally Sustainable Sanitation for Europe” (BESSE), focused on knowledge brokerage in the sanitation sector.

Knowledge brokerage is a mediation process, consisting of transferring knowledge between different (social, professional, cultural, institutional, organisational, etc.) contexts. In its initial phases, the BESSE project allowed to identify a set of obstacles and facilitating factors related to the transfer of new knowledge on sanitation technologies spanning from research to application. Obstacles and facilitating factors have been organized in three different domains:

  • knowledge identification;
  • interaction between different actors; and
  • knowledge application. 


Three areas/domains of Knowledge Brokerage


The operational concept proposed in the BESSE project defines knowledge brokerage as a mediation process, consisting of transferring knowledge between different (social, professional, cultural, institutional, organisational, etc.) contexts. This process is performed, both by specific professional figures in charge of carrying out activities explicitly connected with knowledge brokerage and by people playing other roles who, occasionally or marginally, implement brokerage-related activities.

According to this definition, knowledge brokerage is to be understood as a widespread social phenomenon. Actually, knowledge transfer across different contexts is a process which continuously occurs in society, in more or less efficient ways. However, knowledge brokerage is usually understood as an explicit and intentional activity requiring specific professional skills. In that case, brokerage is viewed as mainly aimed at activating links between players and networks of players who, in absence of a specific mediation, “naturally” would not establish mutual connections.

Three strategies emerging from the literature review as, de facto, structurally characterising knowledge brokerage can be singled out, respectively pertaining to three action areas/domains, namely: Knowledge Identification, Knowledge Interaction, and Knowledge Application.

Please, select one of the three areas/domains of knowledge brokerage. Once the chosen section is completed,  you may  choose to go to another domain or to end up the consultation. 
  1. Knowledge identification domain.
    In this section, knowledge brokerage is strategically aimed at identifying (i.e. selecting and organising), among the available knowledge, those items potentially exploitable in terms of applications and technologies within a given sector (in this case, that of sanitation).
  2. Interaction domain.
    In this section, knowledge brokerage is strategically aimed at creating a relatively stable, meaningful and effective interaction among players who play or should play a role in exploiting new knowledge (mainly when, otherwise, these players would not establish mutual links).
  3. Application domain.
    In this section, knowledge brokerage is strategically aimed at “implementing “the new knowledge, which contributes in transforming the knowledge into concrete applications.