A framework for the design of knowledge management systems in eco-design

Eco-design is becoming a crucial challenge for many companies. The effective integration of environmental concerns into design is linked to the development of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). In this context, this paper proposes a framework to support the design of KMS for eco-design. This framework consists of two complementary parts linked to the main knowledge management strategies that KMS generally support. The first part of the framework concerns codification strategy and relies on an eco-design process reference model and the related adaptation of the GAMETH((R)) method used to locate and evaluate crucial knowledge systematically. The second part of the framework concerns the personalisation strategy. In this paper we propose to exploit the community of practice (CoP) theory by: (1) proposing guidelines defining the structural features of CoPs and (2) adapting a tool landscape providing insight on CoP instrumentation. Both guidelines support the setting up of a specific CoP. The exploitation of the framework is illustrated on a real case study.