Communities of Practice and Communities of Interest

A Way of Sharing, Connecting and Informing for People Living with Disability

A Community of Interest (CoI) can be described as a network of people who share the same interests, knowledge and understanding of a given subject. People take part to exchange thoughts and ideas about their common interest. A Community of Practice (CoP) generally refers to the use and understanding of a specific common interest or profession. For example, an organised group that shares and practices the same understanding and ways of doing things for a given subject.

This is a paper that JFA Purple Orange has been working on for a long time. It uses real life examples and stories to illustrate all areas of CoPs and CoIs, including how to create and maintain a CoP or CoI and the benefits of CoPs and CoIs for NDIS participants.

We found that CoPs benefit both individuals and organisations in various ways including:

• Enabling people to manage change
• Providing the individual with access to  new knowledge
• Fostering trust and a sense of common purpose in the individual
• Adding value to lives
• Informal sharing of valuable information
• Improvements in productivity
• Fostering innovation
• Reinforcing strategic direction