Community of Practice as a Form of Voluntary Academic Cooperation
Community of Practice as a Form of Voluntary Academic Cooperation

Summary/Abstract: Background. Contemporary challenges motivate academics to look for forms of activities stimulating creative processes, releasing creativity, and supporting cooperation between universities and their socio‑economic environments, including the expansion of knowledge with the active participation of these environments. Such effects are brought about by cooperation within the framework of a community of practice – a traditional form of academics’ organizing themselves that is currently being rediscovered. Research aims. A presentation and analysis of examples of informal academic cooperation in Poland and the United Kingdom. Methodology. A case study has been conducted on the basis of statements made by British and Polish researchers and practitioners involved in communities of practice. Key findings. The result of the conducted research is the identification of a theoretical basis necessary for understanding various types of voluntary cooperation within an academic community. The research results show that communities of practice are an effective way of working thanks to the stimulation of creative processes, academics’ individual development, and advantages gained by institutions. Their key strengths are the absence of formalization and the joy of creation. They constitute a renaissance of the traditional forms of work compatible with academics’ styles of living.

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