Communities of practice: One size does not fit all

The need to improve the science-policy/practice divide is recognised for the effective generation and use of climate services to inform adaptation. Intradisciplinary – or within discipline – Communities of Practice (COPs) have long been recognised as a mechanism for furthering the development of information, but the role of transdisciplinary COPs – that span the science-policy/practice divide – is less well studied. In particular it has been claimed that COPs cannot be sustainably created by projects. This paper provides a discussion on what makes each type of COP successful, and a perspective on the extent to which each type of COP can be formed by projects, drawing on experiences from projects in the International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC) Climate Change and Water (CCW) programme. We argue that there is need for a more nuanced understanding of COPs. Our findings reinforce the literature that intradisciplinary COPs need to be internally generated, but indicate that it may be possible to create sustainable transdisciplinary COPs through projects. It also highlights some experiences for creating effective transdisciplinary COPs to improve development and use of climate services. Keywords: Science communication, Science-policy, Useable science, Users