ADB Sustainable Development Timeline docx

ADB Sustainable
Development Timeline

Olivier Serrat
2014

The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank, or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included
in this presentation and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this presentation do not imply any
view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

What Stories Are Good At
Working with stories is one of the best ways to
• Communicate complex messages simply
• Help connect people and ideas
• Create sense, coherence, and meaning
• Operate effectively in networks
• Develop valuable descriptions of situations in which
knowledge is applied and solutions are found
• Examine organizational values and culture
• Give breathing space and allow different perspectives

to emerge
• Inspire imagination and motivate action
• Drive change

ADB: Reflections and Beyond
In 2009, ADB interviewed senior and younger
personnel, both past and present, on their
struggles and triumphs in ADB, working for the
development of Asia and the Pacific, and ADB's
evolution as an institution. From that first step,
awareness grew that narrative techniques can
help (i) spark action, (ii) communicate who you
are, (iii) transmit ideas, (iv) communicate what an
organization is, (v) share knowledge, (vi) foster
collaboration, (vii) transmit values, and (viii) lead
people into the future.

Beyond: Stories and Sounds from
ADB's Region
ADB: Reflections and Beyond and its audio

companion, Beyond: Stories and Sounds
from ADB's Region, marked ADB's first
endeavor at knowledge harvesting through
storytelling. ADB took time to listen to itself
and audiences liked what they heard. Staff
developed an appetite for storytelling in
more contexts through other applications. In
late 2010, a follow-up interactive,
audiovisual project was conceptualized to
promulgate further the use of storytelling to
identify, create, store, share, and use tacit
knowledge.

Genesis of the ADB Sustainable
Development Timeline Project
ADB promotes sustainable
development in Asia and the
Pacific. The ADB Sustainable
Development Timeline would
be an evolving anthology of

videos cataloguing major sector
and thematic landmarks since
1966. With the ADB
Sustainable Development
Timeline brochure setting the
compass for content, the
timeline would comprise
interviews, documentaries,
montages, etc.

reflections.adb.org

reflections.adb.org

reflections.adb.org

ADB Sustainable Development
Timeline—Applications
Institutional Memory
Annual Meetings

Conferences, Seminars, & Workshops
ADB–Donor Interactions
External Relations
Staff Recruitment
Staff Induction
Staff Training
Library Information Resources & Services
Education & Student Visits

Further Reading
• ADB. 2008. Storytelling. Manila. Available:
www.adb.org/publications/storytelling
• ADB. 2010. ADB: Reflections and Beyond. Manila. Available:
www.adb.org/publications/adb-reflections-and-beyond
• ADB. 2010. Harvesting Knowledge. Manila. Available:
www.adb.org/publications/harvesting-knowledge
• ADB. 2010. Building Narrative Capacity at ADB. Manila.
Available:
www.adb.org/publications/building-narrative-capacity-adb
• ADB. 2011. ADB Sustainable Development Timeline. Manila.

Available:
www.adb.org/publications/adb-sustainable-development-time

Further Reading
• ADB. 2011. Timeline of ADB-Hosted Communities of Practice.
Manila. Available:
www.adb.org/publications/timeline-adb-hosted-communitiespractice
• ADB. 2012. World Sustainable Development Timeline. Manila.
Available:
www.adb.org/publications/world-sustainable-development-ti
meline
• ADB. 2012. Interactive Stories of Sustainable Development.
Manila. Available:
www.adb.org/publications/interactive-stories-sustainable-de
velopment

Videos
• ADB. 2015. ADB Sustainable Development Timeline. Manila.
Available: reflections.adb.org
• ADB. 2015. ADB: Reflections and Beyond. Manila. Available:

vimeo.com/user26371068

Olivier Serrat
Principal Knowledge Management Specialist
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
knowledge@adb.org
www.adb.org/knowledge-management
www.facebook.com/adbknowledgesolutions
www.scribd.com/knowledge_solutions
www.twitter.com/adbknowledge