A multi-disciplinary community of higher education practitioners and advocates has formed to share information and ideas on how Asian HEIs can better serve the need for innovation and continuous improvement in Education for Sustainability (EfS). This talk was to support our EfS Asia community as it continues to grow.  We discuss some of the existing research and philosophy around communities of practice.  We provide details on the kinds of opportunities available and challenges faced as we formed such a geographically extensive community of practice, with recommendations for ways to ease or enhance the process for others interested in developing such communities.

1. Building a Community of
Practice around Higher
Education for Sustainability
in Asia
Hosted by Michelle Y. Merrill
Environment and Sustainability Research Cluster
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Webinar
14 October 2015

2. How do you build a
Community of Practice?

3. Wenger Domain,
Practice,
Community
eps644.wikispaces.com

4. “…a community of
practice acts as a locally
negotiated regime of
competence.”
Wenger 1998, p137

5. Constituents of a Community of
Practice (CoP)
(Wenger 1998)
Mutual
Engagement
Joint
Enterprise
Shared
Repertoire

6. Joint Enterprise
• Negotiated meanings
and communal
responses to shared
goal/task
• There must be
allowances for
surprises, divergence
and conviviality
mycelium.is
Joint
Enterprise

7. Mutual Engagement
Dense and complex
interaction of both
working and
sociocultural
activities
susievickery.com
Mutual
Engagement

8. Shared repertoire
“routines, words, tools, ways of doing things, stories,
gestures, symbols, genres, actions or concepts that
the community has adapted in the course of its
existence” (Wenger, 1998, p. 83)
changeyourvibe.co.nz
Shared
Repertoire

9. Constituents of a Community of
Practice (CoP)
(Wenger 1998)
Mutual
Engagement
Joint
Enterprise
Shared
Repertoire
negotiated enterprise
mutual accountability
interpretations
rhythms
local responseengaged diversity
doing things together
relationships
social complexity
community
maintenance
stories
styles
artifacts
tools actions
historical events
discourses
concepts

10. Reification Participation
listening &
learning
Conversation
co-work
Co-creation
Balance Reification and Participation

11. Diversity for a
Dynamic Learning Community
blog.latism.org

12. Varied levels of participation
Peripheral
Occasional
Active
Facilitators

13. Principles to cultivate CoPs:
“Designing for Aliveness”
(Wenger, McDermott, Snyder 2002)
1. Design for evolution
2. Open a dialogue between inside and outside
perspectives
3. Invite different levels of participation
4. Develop both public and private community
spaces
5. Focus on value
6. Combine familiarity and excitement
7. Create a rhythm for the community

14. CoP Stages of Development
from Wenger (http://partnership.esflive.eu/files/CoP_development_stages.pdf/)
Potential
Coalescing
Maturing
Stewardship
Legacy
Loose
network of
people with
similar issues
and needs
Members
come together
and launch a
community
Discover
common
ground and
prepare for a
community
Find value in
engaging and
learning
activities and
design a
community
CoP forms and
identity, takes
charge of its
practice and
grows
Set standards,
define a
learning
agenda, and
deal with
growth
The CoP is
established and
acts as the
steward of its
domain
Sustain energy,
renew interest,
educate novices,
find a voice and
gain influence
The CoP has
outlived its
usefulness and
people move on
Let go,
define a
legacy, keep
in touch

15. How are we doing it?
A case study of the EfS Asia CoP

16. NTU Conferences
Bridging Sustainability in
Research to Pedagogy:
Theory and Practice
19 – 20 April 2013
Sustainability in
Education: Pedagogical
Themes and Practices in
Asian Countries
27 – 28 February 2014
Post-Secondary
Education for
Sustainability in Asia:
Curricula, Case Studies
and Community-
Building​
5-6 February 2015

17. Website http://bit.do/EfSAsia

18. Newsletters
Webinar/
Online Chat
Grant
Applications
Edited Book
Linked-In
Group
Collaborate
on Research

19. How well is it working?

20. Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for
Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘
Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005)
1. Foundation: Build Relationships
• How regularly are members interacting?
• To what extent do interactions have continuity and
depth?
• Are members “opportunistic” about chances to interact
in other settings (conferences, etc.)?
• Are members taking on new leadership roles?
• How much and what kind of reciprocity is occurring?
• To what extent is a shared understanding of the
community’s domain and approach to practice
beginning to emerge?

21. Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for
Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘
Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005)
2. Learn and Develop the Practice
• How rich and accessible are the community’s
knowledge representations for existing practice?
• To what extent does community design support deeper
learning for community members?
3. Take Action as a Community
• Are collaborative efforts beginning to emerge
naturally?
• Are there community structures to support
volunteering for projects and working with others?
• Are members recognized and rewarded for their
contributions?

22. Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for
Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘
Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005)
4. Create Knowledge in the Domain
• How open is the community to new ideas and
leadership?
• To what extent is the community influential in its
domain?
• Are community members being invited, as community
members, to present on leading-edge ideas?

23. What could we do better?
Your ideas

24. What could we do better?
• your ideas?
• Bring more into the core
• Ensure sustainability of the community through
new/additional leadership (will it continue to grow and
thrive if I can’t stay?)
• “[create] a predictable “rhythm” that sets an
expectation around how and when to participate in the
community” (Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005, p.2)
• more social media (expertise & time)
• articulate purpose and benefits to participants

25. What’s next?
smaller scale
larger scale

26. Inside NTU:
smaller scale

27. Formal Organizations for
ESD/EfS
… are NOT Communities of Practice (though they may contain
and support CoPs)
aashe.org
copernicus-alliance.org
prospernet.ias.unu.edu
talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu

28. Southeast Asian Higher Education for Sustainability:
Principles and Practices
Research Project Goals
•Discover, develop and disseminate
innovations in EfS
•Influence the next generations of
thought-leaders in Asia
•Improve international coordination for
sustainability
•Develop online repository for EfS in higher
education in Asia

29. How can we connect with,
learn from and teach each
other, so together we can
co-create sustainable,
resilient cultures?
mmerrill@ntu.edu.sg
perplexedprimate@gmail.com
Skype: michelle.y.merrill
michelleyvonnemerrill.com
http://bit.do/EfSAsia