The importance of strong knowledge networks in the development of communities was stressed by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic when he delivered the keynote address at an international conference in India earlier this month. “Knowledge naturally multiplies,” said Associate Professor Manohar Pawar from the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Wagga Wagga. “It is inherent in knowledge that it keeps expanding, spreading and growing exponentially. The most interesting aspect of knowledge is that while the recipient of the knowledge gains, the person passing on the knowledge does not lose anything in terms of knowledge. Thus the element of ‘network’ is inbuilt into knowledge,” argued Associate Professor Pawar. “Given this innate nature of knowledge, it may be relatively easy to build knowledge networks for community development in Asia and the Pacific.” Associate Professor Pawar delivered the speech, ‘Toward Knowledge Networks for the Economy, Society, Culture, Environment and Health for the GMS and Asia-Pacific’, during the conference held in Mumbai from Monday 7 to Thursday 10 September. The conference was organised by the Inter University Cooperation Program and Thailand’s Chiangrai Rajabhat University.