Coalition members are working to bring people together to learn from each other across boundaries, with the goal of building more interconnected, inclusive, and resilient communities.

A variety of frameworks and theories inform our work as social learning leaders, all of which point toward the need for more integrated and equitable social systems.

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INSPIRATION AND GUIDANCE FOR SOCIAL LEARNING LEADERS

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WHAT IS A SYSTEM CONVENER?

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The Ways to Engage infographic below is a simple tool that we use to explain to participants the kinds of social systems we’re hoping to help flourish. It’s a distillation of the numerous theoretical frameworks that have influenced our shared work.  

Our goal is to help people develop systems with the characteristics on the right side of the graphic, moving away from systems with the characteristics on the left. 

The graphic is framed around community-based learning systems, but the principles can be applied to any sector (healthcare systems, workforce development, agriculture/food production, etc.).

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WAYS TO ENGAGE INFOGRAPHIC

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We seek to foster genuine friendships and professional relationships among participants. 

While important connections and learning can happen in a single event, it’s even more powerful to create ongoing opportunities for people to learn in a community of practice. 

Here’s a one-pager describing the concept:

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WHAT IS A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE?

Social learning is new and unfamiliar to many people, which can make it challenging to recruit new participants. 

We’ve put together this list of tips for calling in new people to participate in social learning events:

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CALLING IN NEW SOCIAL LEARNERS

We try to give people a taste of what to expect from their social learning experiences 

To help new participants get oriented and empowered to participate, we’ve found it helpful to share the What is a Community of Practice? document as well as this list of advice from past participants: 

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ADVICE FOR NEW SOCIAL LEARNERS

People have many different ways of learning. 

We’ve had conversations around the question, “How can we design learning opportunities/systems that work well for people different than ourselves?” 

Here’s a series of documents with advice generated from those conversations:

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PREPARING THE SELF (DESIGN FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS)

_LISTENING (DESIGNED FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS) 

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POSITIONING YOURSELF (DESIGNED FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS)

STRUCTURE (DESIGN FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS) 

We create spaces where the seeds of new partnerships and collaborations can germinate and begin to grow, and recognize that healthy and enduring partnerships take a long time to evolve. 

We’ve produced these two resources for people to use as benchmarks/references as their partnerships are initiated and evolve:

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QUESTIONS FOR POTENTIAL PARTNERS

SIGNS OF A HEALTHY PARTNERSHIP

Design Clinics are a beloved and frequently used social learning tool. The process mobilizes the collective wisdom of a group in an equitable and energizing way, inspiring robust learning for all. 

We learned the basic format from Beverly and Etienne Wenger-Trayner, and continue to adapt it.

Here’s a description of the design clinic format, as well as a timeline of the evolution of crafting the design clinic format into what it is today:

DESIGN CLINIC FORMAT

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EVOLUTION OF THE DESIGN CLINIC FORMAT 

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It’s important to take notes during a design clinic, so that the wisdom shared is captured and can be disseminated. 

Here’s a template for taking design clinic notes:

DESIGN CLINIC NOTES TEMPLATE

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This activity allows a group to develop a sense of the wide range of questions that would be worthwhile for them to explore through design clinics. It helps participants see how their particular interests/challenges are situated within the larger group context:

ENGAGING UNCERTAINTY ACTIVITY

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Help participants hone in on a simple, specific design clinic request with this document:

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CRAFTING AN EFFECTIVE DESIGN CLINIC QUESTION 

Support participants in effectively inquiring during the "Share more about" section:

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TIPS FOR "SHARE MORE ABOUT..." 

We want to know that our social learning leadership is making a difference.

One useful assessment tool is the value-creation framework created by Beverly and Etienne Wenger-Trayner and their colleague Maarten de Laat.

Here’s a brief overview of the framework, which includes a link to their publication that explores the framework in detail:

VALUE-CREATION IN SOCIAL LEARNING 

We have used this activity to help participants articulate how they define success for the wide variety of people their work touches:

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WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? 

Our social learning practices have evolved significantly over time.

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In early 2018, we produced the first "Guide to Community Engagement Fellows" which provides a detailed explanation of the program philosophy, evolution, and structure at that point.

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The "Guide" now functions as a useful reference and archive for the coalition, even though its language and explanations of our methods are not current.

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GUIDE TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FELLOWS (2018)