Vital and viable community of practice

Webinar by Victoria Mirata & Marco Bettoni, FFHS, May 28, 2015

Experience in establishing communities of practice (CoPs) in various organisations have shown that initiating, establishing and maintaining a vital and viable CoP represents a very challenging task, in face of which many leaders seem often rather helpless. Why? When is a group of people a CoP? When is it on the contrary “only” a working group, a project team or a department? How can you support a CoP, so that it is vital and viable? What benefits can a CoP deliver?

To answer these and similar questions, we will in the first part of the webinar present an understanding of the CoP according to the theory of Etienne Wenger (social theory of learning) and then in the second part apply that understanding to the above mentioned issues. We will present principles and factors that enable or hinder a vital and viable CoP and discuss that in related examples.