Communities of practice Why bother? Angie Hart Academic Director, Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp) www.cupp.org.uk 1

Communities of Practice “…groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise” (Wenger & Snyder, 2000) Emphasise sharing and mutuality No fixed boundaries between ‘experts’ and ‘non-experts’ Expectation that members will work across organisational and disciplinary boundaries Challenging current structures and hierarchies

Community of Practice Inter disciplinary Cross agency Collaborating for mutual benefit Exchange of knowledge between sectors Boundary spanning Shared passion www.cupp.org.uk

CoPs ‘boundary cross’ CoPs aim to be inclusive, to make connections and consolidate learning across potential lines of division in relation to joint enterprise. Boundary crossing causes people to look afresh at their own assumptions. Two ways CoPs facilitate boundary crossing: ‘boundary objects’ – e.g. language, artefacts ‘brokering’ – e.g. linking differing perspectives

Benefits Clustering projects together under a shared theme to promote longevity and impact Helping different stakeholders keep up to date with information and skill development Mechanism for assessing the viability and value of new pieces of work or projects Influencing key decision makers by providing them with well worked and mutually owned solutions to shared problems  Explicitly working with power differentials and different knowledge bases  www.cupp.org.uk

emergence Hydrogen and oxygen are the elemental gases that make up water, but the ‘wetness’ of water is an ‘emergent property’ of the system not reducible to hydrogen or oxygen (Zajonc 2010, 81). www.cupp.org.uk

The principles of emergence mean that over-controlling approaches will not work well within complex systems–that in order to maximise system adaptiveness, there must be space for innovation and novelty to occur (Ramalingam, Jones et al. 2008, 21). www.cupp.org.uk

My CoP membership Resilient practice CoP Pan Sussex Strategic Group for Care Leavers Community University Partnership Programme www.cupp.org.uk

Brighton and Sussex Community Knowledge Exchange 7/4/06 Skills useful for a CoP ‘Brokerage and ‘Convening skills’ Technical and network knowledge Ability to think creatively Ability to work with complex interpersonal dynamics Staying power Ability to draw upon a raft of communication skills at a wide variety of levels Passionate about making a difference in relation to the topic www.cupp.org.uk Exchanging Knowledge between Universities and Communities

Community of practice: issues and challenges Creating a win / win Different agendas Importance of boundary spanning –overinvestment in individuals? Hybrid community of practice and work plan group ‘Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness’ www.cupp.org.uk

Bridging cultures Respectful of different knowledge/expertise ‘Click factor’ Know what you want from partnering Always prepare to translate and explain Confidence to be vulnerable Prepared to be taken down a peg or two Explicitly elevate ‘on the ground’ expertise Emphasise ‘practice’ and relationships rather than organisational form or structure: ‘Communities of practice Don’t get stuck with one narrative

Further resources http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how/methods/communities-practice Hart, A., and D.Wolff. 2006 ‘Developing communities of practice through community-university partnerships’ Planning, Practice and Research 21(1) 121-138 Put communities of practice into ‘youtube’ www.cupp.org.uk

Cupp news: Sign up for email updates www.cupp.org.uk “Community university partnerships in practice” Edited by Angie Hart, Elizabeth Maddison and David Wolff www.niace.org.uk/publications/C/comm-university.asp http://www.coastalcommunities.org.uk/briefingPapers.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30hD94Nwhc www.cupp.org.uk 13