What are LPAs?
What are CoPs?
What matters to make them work?
Ewen Le Borgne
EAU4Food LPA-CoP facilitation training workshop
ILRI Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
13-15 August 2012

Overview
• What are LPAs/CoPs in EAU4Food?
• Why such platforms?
• The ingredients of an LPA/CoP
• Activities to facilitate LPAs/CoPs
• Key issues to consider in facilitating LPAs/CoPs
• The CoP/LPA facilitator…

What are LPAs/CoPs in EAU4Food?

What is a CoP? What is an LPA?
Process?
Approach?
Network?

What is an LPA?
‘A group of actors, including
researchers, decision-
makers and practitioners …
… who come together to share
learning, support innovation
and scale up solutions

What is an LPA?
Focused on the big picture
Merging policy and practice
Diverse
membership
Researchers
Other technical
experts
Decision Private sector
makers

What is a CoP?
‘A specific group of
like minded
practitioners…
… who come together
to solve shared
problems’

What is a CoP?
Farmer-led
Locally-focused
Practice-oriented
Farmers
Extension
workers
Researchers

What is a CoP? What is an LPA?
Membership will
overlap…
… and
evolve

LPA
NGOs
Local
Policy/ decision
researchers Academics
makers
Researchers Government Private
EAU4Food experts sector
Consortium
CoP / LPA representatives
Extension
workers
Local Farmers
Technical Local
Experts Researchers researchers
EAU4Food
Consortium CoP

Why such platforms in EAU4Food?

Why such platforms in EAU4Food?
Why platforms?
• Involve stakeholders in the research and innovation process
and enhance commitment to research processes, ownership
of research results and strengthening of research capacities
• Ensure that research aims to tackle the problems
encountered on the ground
• Ensure that research results are translated into policy and
practice by involving the direct users (e.g. farmers, decision
makers) in the research process
• Create conditions for long term cooperation and
coordination in the sector
• Link up the local level where research usually takes place
with the sub-national / national arena where policies are
formulated

The ingredients of an LPA/CoP

The ingredients of a learning and practice
alliance / community of practice
A vision
Its essence
Credits: Kristin Marshall

The ingredients of a learning and practice
alliance / community of practice
A Structure
Its arborescence
Credits: Carlos Zardoya

The ingredients of a learning and practice
alliance / community of practice
Activities
Its presence
Credits: ILRI

The ingredients of a learning and practice
alliance / community of practice
Embedding
Credits: Kelly Hart
Its resilience?

The ingredients of a learning and practice
alliance / community of practice
Some impact
The evidence of
its success
Credits: CIAT/Neil Palmer

Key issues to consider in a CoP

The ingredients of a Community of practice
A community
The people who
want to share
their knowledge
with each other
?
Credits: Preston Rhea

The ingredients of a Community of practice
A domain
A meaningful field that
?
Credits: Agrilife Today brings people together

The ingredients of a Community of practice
A practice
A set of common
activities to
reflect and act
upon
Credits: CIAT/Neil Palmer

The ingredients of a Community of practice
Developing a
passion for the CoP
Motivation
Credits: DavidYuWeb

The ingredients of a Community of practice
A mandate
Original and/or
co-created… to
generate purpose
and results
Credits: European Parliament

The ingredients of a Community of practice
A structure
A balance
between formal
& informal
Credits: Isaac Mao 90-9-1 etc.

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs
Convening them
Credits: ILRI/Ewen Le Borgne

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs
Cementing them
Building relationships,
Building an agenda,
Organizing activities to get people to work
together
Credits: ILRI

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs
Connecting them Knowledge
Sharing &
learning
Public Engaging for
awareness wider impact
Comms
Among &
across
Publishing –
platforms capturing /
disseminating
Internal
communication
Credits: Ewen Le Borgne outputs

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs
Understanding them
Monitoring, process documentation etc.
Credits: ILRI/Tezira Lore

Activities to facilitate LPAs and CoPs
Sustaining them?
Rotating activities? Technical
inputs? Financial and other
Credits: The Pauls
resources? Institutionalisation ?

Key issues to consider in
facilitating LPAs and CoPs

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Relevant agenda?
Credits: Bilal Kamoon

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
The right mandate?
Credits: European Parliament

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Power issues?
Credits: NotBruceLee

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Representative members?
Credits: ILRI / Ewen Le Borgne

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Solid engagement?

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Turnover?
Credits: The-G-UK

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Incentives?

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Action!
Credits: ILRI

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Time!
And other resources…
Credits: Darren Tunnicliff

Key issues to consider in facilitating
LPAs and CoPs
Impact!
Credits: ILRI

The CoP/LPA facilitator

Profile of the CoP/LPA facilitator
CoP Both LPA
Technically Respected Technically
respected apt
Good listener Good communicator
Committed
Specialist Good negotiator / Generalist
with conflict resolution with
generalist specialist
aptitude focus
Flexible
Charismatic
Digs deeper Goes wider
Well networked

More information
http://www.eau4food.info
e.leborgne@cgiar.org
The presentation has a Creative Commons licence. You are free to re-use or distribute this work, provided credit is given to ILRI.

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