European Community of Practice

There is an interesting report from IDeA about a Community of Practice "Facilitator's Workshop" carried out by Stephen Dale. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together the facilitators of the communities supported on the IDeA CoP platform. Dave Briggs who facilitates one of the CoPs points out that the idea is very ambitious:

"Firstly we are asking people to tear down silos and start working together and sharing our knowledge - something that is an anathema to some elements of local government culture. Secondly we are asking them to do so using the web, with blogs, wikis and forums." 

As he also said - things take time: 

“It came as a great relief to hear from seasoned community facilitators…that convincing people to engage with a concept like the communities of practice isn't easy. Many facilitators I spoke to, like me, wanted to increase community participation. They were worried that a lack of activity at this stage might mean things just weren't working. I also learned that these things take time and perseverance to see tangible benefits realised.”

While the report highlights that people can see the potential of CoPs, I would also add the importance of having good facilitators. You can't have an vibrant CoP without vibrant facilitators, formal or informal ones.