Knowledge Networking: Implications for Peacebuilding Activities‪.‬

Abstract It is increasingly recognised that the mobilisation and exchange of knowledge between different sectors (such as academia, policymakers, and practitioners) and regions (between North and South as well as among conflict regions) can be of paramount importance in the field of peacebuilding. As a result, the number of knowledge networks in this field has risen dramatically in recent years. This article aims to shed light on these initiatives and their potential by analysing the structural factors that shape the possibilities for knowledge exchange in networks in the field of development and peacebuilding. It maps recent thinking about knowledge networking and draws on conversations with network participants in North and South. Attention is paid to conditions and characteristics of knowledge networks, including theoretical frames for understanding them and ways of categorising them. In addition, the article deals with obstacles for successful knowledge networking, including organisational structure and culture; power issues, competition, and contested knowledge; embeddedness, regimes, donor relations, and discourse; the social and political situation in postconflict regions; cultural issues; and the issue of knowledge changing over time. The final section of the article concludes by listing a number of factors that influence the success of knowledge networks.