The RIBA Knowledge Communities are web supported interdisciplinary groups. They facilitate the capturing, sharing, and applying of professional knowledge relating to architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 and the built environment

Built environment

The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter and buildings to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks.The built...

.

The RIBA Knowledge Communities initiative is a knowledge community

Knowledge community

A knowledge community is community construct, stemming from the convergence of knowledge management as a field of study and social exchange theory. Formerly known as a discourse community and having evolved from forums and web forums, knowledge communities are now often referred to as a community...

 platform developed by the RIBA

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

. It is a non-commercial collaborative resource, open to all built environment professionals and anyone with interrelated knowledge to share. Its purpose is to connect and engage these professionals in the advancement of their specific subjects of interest.

People get very enthusiastic when talking about their subject and the best service the RIBA as an institution can provide is to enable that knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer in the fields of organizational development and organizational learning is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to another part of the organization. Like Knowledge Management, Knowledge transfer seeks to organize, create, capture or...

 through these specialist groups.

Communities

There are currently RIBA Knowledge Communities for the following subject areas:

• Sustainability
  For built environment professionals to discuss the sustainable production of architecture and to engage with the RIBA Sustainable Futures Group.

• Integrated Project Working
  To engage an interdisciplinary professional base in the advancement of CAD, BIM
  Bim
  Bim is a 1974 Trinidad and Tobago film written by Raoul Pantin and directed by Hugh A. Robertson. It was described by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago".-Plot:...
  
   and the mutual distribution of technical information between all areas of the built environment.

• Education Building Design
  Helping to deliver intelligent higher education
  Higher education
  Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
  
   and further education
  Further education
  Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
  
   school design and providing a forum for this discussion.

• Students of Architecture
  For architecture students to share news, experience and events while keeping in touch with architectural research and progression.

• Regulations and Standards
  To involve members in the production of building regulations
  Building regulations
  Building regulations may refer to:*Building code, a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects*Building regulations in the United Kingdom, statutory instruments that seek to ensure that the policies set out in the Building Act 1984...
  
   and standards and to support the ongoing work of the joint BRE CIAT RIBA Technical Task Force.

• Traditional Architecture
  The RIBA Traditional Architecture group’s space to disseminate their research and to capture the experience of their members.

• International
  For the RIBA’s International department to build a knowledge bank from around the world.

• Small Practice
  Providing a platform for architects in small practice to share their experience while having the opportunity to be a part of the consultations for the RIBA Small Practice Group papers.

• Development and Disaster Relief
  To explore the difference that innovative design and construction can make in the lives of some of the most vulnerable people on earth (facilitated by Article 25).

• Urban Greening
  To create the pre-conditions necessary for trees to be considered as an integral part of development at the earliest conceptual and design stages of any scheme (facilitated by the Trees and Design Action Group).

Structure

The RIBA Knowledge Communities website is supported by the RIBA Research & Development department as an architectural knowledge management

Knowledge management

Knowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...

 initiative. The communities are structured around the pre-existing RIBA committees. These groups are tasked with creating and initiating an agenda for the development of their respective subjects related to the built environment.

• Champion
  An appointed RIBA Knowledge Champion acts as a focal point for the governance of their respective RIBA Knowledge Community. They are selected on the basis of their expertise and active involvement in the community’s field of knowledge.

• Expert Peer Group/Committee
  The Peer Group consists of approximately 5-8 individuals. They are selected for their expertise and active involvement in their community's field of knowledge. The group delegates responsibilities in liaison with the community Facilitators and community members for routine tasks and responsibilities as well as one-off activities.

• Community Facilitators
  Facilitators will support the creation and maintenance of the communities. They are the main administrative focus for the work of the community. They receive support from the RIBA Research & Development department and provide assistance to ‘Knowledge Champions’ and ‘Expert Peer Groups’.

• Community Members
  Knowledge Communities are organised as collections of architects and other professionals who are committed to collaborations within specialist areas of design
  Design
  Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
  
  , management
  Management
  Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
  
   and construction
  Construction
  In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
  
  .

Applications

The RIBA Knowledge Communities website provides applications designed to engage the members in their subjects of interest, these include:

• Personal blogs

• Community discussion forums

• Community events calendars

• Contacts

• Members directory

• Resources (uploading files to share with other community members)

• Tags
  Tag (metadata)
  In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching...
  
  

• RSS feeds

The RIBA Knowledge Communities is powered by Elgg (software)

Elgg (software)

Elgg is open source social networking software that provides individuals and organizations with the components needed to create an online social environment. It offers blogging, microblogging, file sharing, networking, groups and a number of other features....

 which is an open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 networking platform. The applications are installed as plugins that can be downloaded from the Elgg community website or created by PHP

PHP

PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

developers.