AC Forum Communities of Practice are dedicated spaces where staff of member organisations working in the same area of association management and/or with a similar sphere of interest can exchange ideas, share best practices, and collaborate with fellow professionals.
This interest is pursued through joint activities, discussion, information sharing, and relationship building, so that members form a community and use the resources and information in their work.
Each Community of Practice has several functions within the community it serves:
- Best Practice: members develop and share best practices, guidelines, and strategies
- Knowledge Management: members organise, manage, and develop a body of knowledge for their own use
- Innovation: members create and develop new ideas, knowledge, and practices
- Helping: members help each other with everyday work needs
Communities of Practice can connect people who may not have interacted before or interacted infrequently, enable dialogue between members, create a channel in which members can share experiences and gain new insights, stimulate learning, facilitate knowledge- and resource-sharing, encourage collaboration, create new knowledge and resources.
An essential element of a Community of Practice is ongoing interaction, both online and in-person, which strengthens the communities by allowing members to engage in discussions and encouraging them to actively participate.
Communities of Practice are established according to the AC Forum core topics.
