Notes on Issue 1 Life after funding

(fragment from main report, by Mantey, Rüter, Williams)

Lessons learned from an ICT4D community of trainers

• Pay attention to existing networks and links, internationally and locally, as people indicated that there are a large number of these professional networks already.
• Developing of a clear sense of local control and focus on the side of actual practice is extremely important and will depend on the legitimacy of community members who take on the leadership role. Development of such capacities requires culturally sensitive facilitation.
• Just as the success of a community of practice depends on a certain amount of passion for its domain, supporting communities requires a level of commitment and constancy because the community has to grow fairly organically. The timeframe which must be kept in mind is quite long, bearing in mind the diversity of trainers’ practices involved.

(IICD,  http://www.ftpiicd.org/files/research/briefs/brief_CoP.pdf)

CoPs for development of the MENA region

• A general advice to donors could be to assess the potential of (emerging) CoPs in terms of sustainability, before deciding to support them. During support, donors should encourage activities that increase the sustainability of the community.
• Donors are e.g. recommended to “support CoPs to build partnerships with like-minded networks globally.”
• And to “Identify the organic need for focused CoPs. Creating supply-driven networks will usually lead to failure. […] An organic need for networking is another critical success factor. While donors can encourage and facilitate existing networking efforts in the region, they should not get involved where demand for networking activities is not clear.”
• A limited understanding of what a CoP entails can significantly affect the relevance and quality of CoP activities. [...] As a result of this limited understanding, CoPs can be easily mistaken for short-term activities, meaning CoPs may get started but that they will not last. Donors who are thinking of supporting CoP activities should be aware of this, and adjust their expectations accordingly.
• The most important issue determining a CoP’s success is leadership. A committed, energetic leadership is vital. For potential donors, it is important to gauge the commitment/passion of leaders before deciding to support a CoP.
• Diversifying funding sources has been another important lesson identified by the Sustainable Livelihoods CoP which has managed to build partnerships with donors and with research institutions. By ensuring that the sources of funds are diversified, they have managed to guarantee better chances of sustainability and continuity.
• The other two CoPs invested more modestly in face-to-face meetings, attempting to optimize their funding by arranging side meetings during larger events. Funding was thus maximized, and they were able to build on the content being discussed at the larger events as a means of generating content for the CoP. This appeared to be quite a successful strategy.

(Johnson E.C. and R. Khalidi, 2005 – Communities of Practice for Development in the Middle East and North Africa – KM4D Journal 1(1). http://www.km4dev.org/journal/index.php/km4dj/article/view/15  )

Communities of Practice at CARE

• CARE doesn’t fund its communities: “Given that CARE country offices operate under very tight resource constraints, a community can be successful only if it can demonstrate that it can add immediate value to areas of strategic importance to CARE. Moreover, CARE does not have the resources for dedicated facilitation of communities. Therefore, CoPs at CARE need to consist of self-motivated individuals, who are passionate about their area of expertise, and are committed to the growth of knowledge in strategic areas of interest to CARE. Thus the formation of communities at CARE is an active choice by members from different country offices who want to make the time to engage with each other because they perceive the value of sharing knowledge for themselves and for the organization.”
• CARE created a “5-step model called the 5-D model to help potential community members design viable communities at CARE and manage them through their life cycle.” The model is described in the article (source below).

(KM4D Journal 1(1):

Ramaswamy, R., G. Storer and R. Van Zeyl. 2005. Designing sustainable communities of practice at CARE. http://www.km4dev.org/journal/index.php/km4dj/article/viewFile/16/36