European Community of Practice

October was a month with several face-to-face meetings and many opportunities for self-reflection about the IMCoP. There was a Steering Group meeting on the morning of the 9th October before the workshop at the Open Days of the European week of cities in which the SG and one facilitator participated. Members of the Steering Group made up a panel at a workshop in the afternoon where they talked about innovation mainstreaming to a more general audience attending the European event. On the 17th October the IMCoP presented the case of Innovation Mainstreaming CoP at the session with Etienne Wenger and during the same afternoon there was a meeting with Gerhard Braeunling from the European Commission and other members of the network of European communities of practice.

Conclusions and Recommendations

- The issues of needing more Resources on the site, increased marketing and outreach for the CoP, and more concern about the role of the facilitator, continue to be important ones. However, these questions may need to be considered in the light of the continuation (or not) of the IMCoP in the new programme.

- The question of the continuation of the CoP in the new programme has strategic implications for what to do in the forthcoming months. Should facilitators and Steering Group members invest time to make sure that more tools and resources are put into the site? What is the invitation to new members if the project is going to end in May? If, as John Neill suggested, the facilitator role is a pilot study, then what implications does that have for the work they are doing now and in the future? Preparing this vision for the at the next Steering Group meeting and/or online would help to determine the next steps in the IMCoP.

- There were two issues that arose in the session with Etienne Wenger about the IMCoP. One of those issues is that of domain – to what extent is Innovation Mainstreaming a domain that is sufficiently part of people’s identity that they feel the need to invest their time in the CoP? A second issue was that of “nurturing” the CoP. Who has the role of nurturing and tending to the relationships in this community of practice? Nurturing, the role of people who care about the domain, is often part of the role of facilitators. However, as Willem pointed out, their work has been a slow and time-consuming business as they research the “territory” and try to establish local relationships in order to help give people what they want. My observation of Wenger’s model is that facilitators have been contracted as “support” rather that “nurturers” whereas a sustainable community of practice requires both. Both these issues, that of domain and of the absence of “nurturer/s” of the community, could be reviewed by the Steering Group when considering a next phase.

See attachment for full report.