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2007 conference at Open University UK , with lectures from Etienne Wenger and Yrjö Engeström - like they also met in 2010 in Aalborg at the Networked learning conference. The lectures were followed by discussion between the presenters. The page offers access to full papers and a PPT presentation where Engeström further develops his theory of mycorrhizae, (also known as rhizome)networks growing uncontrolled, in the wild

Etienne and Bev's site

This is the brief overview of what a CoP is from Etienne Wenger himself. It is the briefest and most succinct intro I have seen.

This is Wenger's basic thinking in this area, and the basis for the enormous CoP machine that is out there in academia.

From summary of thesis: The issues discussed in the current thesis grow out of many years of practical work in various development projects within the field of labour market politics. The explicit aim of many of these projects is to change or adjust current work practices. However, I have often encountered a mismatch between the well-documented experiences of success within a project on one hand, and the fact that project experiences are only rarely and to a limited extent successfully transferred to and applicable outside the project. This schism formed the initial backdrop for the work presented in this thesis. The aim has been firstly to develop a better understanding for the learning processes made possible through development projects, secondly to clarify why problems occur when this new learning is to be implemented in and brought back to those labour market organisations (job centres, unemployment funds, educational institutions, local authorities etc.) that the development project targeted. In the thesis, implementation is therefore primarily discussed in terms of these labour market institutions, that is, they form the primary horizon for the experiences and the learning resulting from the project. The thesis contains an empirical and theoretical analysis of the process establishing a specific development project, the learning of the participants through the project, and the implementation of their experiences both in the day-to-day work and within the organisation at large. Yrjö Engeström is, therefore, introduced since his concept of expansive learning precisely captures the combination of novel practice and different forms of learning. With their notion of community of practice Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger provide, furthermore, an analytical concept of immediate relevance for project work. I have been much inspired by their approach while collecting empirical material documenting the later part of the project. I have, however, come to realise that t

Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge - Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice. Book resume