European Community of Practice

General activities

January saw an increase in the number of tools in the site and some subsequent suggestions for changing the process and presentation of the tools on the site. Preparations for the seminar in Warsaw were the focus of conversations in the first teleconference held in CoPIM. A conversation was started about evaluating the CoP in google groups.

Conclusions and Next Steps

The year started with more activity than in previous months, particularly as more tools are being entered as resources. As the number of resources increases it becomes clear that they need to be organised and presented in more user-friendly ways.

As more people start to register on the site it becomes all the more important to make people feel welcome and to start connecting different people up with each other. This is a fundamental aspect of being a community of practice rather than a website or a project. It was foreseen that this practice would be a part of the role of a facilitator but it does not have to be. Such an important role should be re-evaluated in the light of the dynamics of the way the CoP is developing.

As the CoP starts to grow it would be useful to think of how an evaluation of the health and sustainability of the CoP by its members would take place. One suggestion would be to have a sub-group of the Steering Group to carry out a self-assessment of the Innovation CoP to provide a springboard for reflection and learning by the full Steering Group.

The telephone conference was an important development in the repertoire of this community’s communication communication tools and practices. The practices, such as making notes and recording the calls, is one that could be developed and shared with other communities of practice in the ESFlive network.

See attachment (and annex) for full report