Theory of Knowledge

This platform supports how written knowledge is generated, stored, synthesized, and distributed among Workgroups working on ecosystem stewardship in the Salish Sea. We aim to amplify knowledge creation, increase synthesis, and reduce loss. We support the quality of Best Available Science, critical for regulation, and can support the distribution of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous Science. While we often associate knowledge with Education and Academic institutions, our education systems only touch a small portion of our overall shared pool of knowledge, and are limited in the kinds of knowledge accessed. Meanwhile, compared to academic publicatinos, other areas of knowledge generation or synthesis are less endowed with infrastructure and subsidies. This platform does not propose to resolve all these tensions. However, through the process of developing and refining this platform, we are proposing a practical use of technology to interact with cross-institutional and non-institutional knowledge management to directly benefit the stewardship of our bioregion.

Assumptions about How The Platform Creates Value[edit]

Field observations not published in peer-reviewed papers have value that is critical to a science community - Field work in ecosystems generates unique and useful knowledge that is often not stored, and is rarely distributed or synthesized. As a consequence field work observations are not well integrated into our knowledge of place. Natural History is always place-based and is the fertile progenitor of robust research.
Technical Products are easily lost, so we store them well - Technical products generated with public funding are frequently stored without context, buried in archives or hard drives and are forgotten, effectively lost, and are often not included in synthesis.
Through Categories we build a shared language of knowledge - As we collect and organize knowledge we use page types and categories. Good categories identify bodies of work, and create a shared language that helps us talk about what we know.
Understanding nuanced variation among Places is critical for restoration and stewardship - Through field work and product development we build Place-based knowledge. However we rarely synthesize knowledge into a record of what we know about a place--our academic systems favor new breakthroughs in generalized knowledge, rather than incremental accumulation of place-based knowledge. Depending on generalized knowledge weakens our ability to provide rigorous stewardship.
The platform increases feedbacks between the field practitioners, people living in place, and knowledge workers - Ecosystem stewardship and knowledge creation are frequently not connected due to a range of social dynamics. We need many more people involved in ecosystem stewardship.
We can increase the quality of scientific evidence available for deliberation and decision making - The Best Available Science used in ecosystem decisions is often limited to a very small pool of generalized knowledge.
We maximize information density - Our social technology is focused on the economical transfer of information, evidence and knowledge rather than precision or completeness.
We minimize intermediation to reduce costs - we apply our effort towards developing a social technology that can be sustained largely independent of market mechanisms. Our critical operating costs are $USD2400/year. We build shared collections among willing actors across institutional boundaries.

Theory of Knowledge

Introduction Pages[edit]

Assumptions about How The Platform Creates Value[edit]