ABSTRACT
The global water and sanitation sector is focused on reaching the Millennium Development Goals 1 . To accomplish this task, it is necessary to seek strategies which involve social actors from different backgrounds. They should be included in processes involving participation and negotiation, processes in which knowledge from all disciplines and realities are respected and recognized. This involves taking into account the needs and capacities of communities, involving the citizens, and sharing and improving the flow of information and knowledge. For regions such as Latin America, where rural water and sanitation services are in the hands of community based organizations, community management plays a key role in achieving both the sustainability of investments and improvement in the quality of service.
Similarly, combining community management with the use of resources for information and communication is a strategy for promoting knowledge management in the water and sanitation sector, and thus for allowing the efforts and investments in this sector to have the desired results.
This article presents the case of the Colombian Association of Community Water Supply and Sanitation Public Service Providers, or AQUACOL. This organization has been developing a knowledge management process at the community level, supported by processes of community management and using the media as well as information and communication technologies.
