September 2020

Over the last couple of years, SARIMA in partnership with the South African Department of Science and Innovation (formerly known as the Department of Science and Technology) have provided support for the establishment of regional CoPs. Since the formation of the first COP in the Western Cape ca. 2017, several other regions have adopted this ‘clustered’ approach. The Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Free State / Eastern Regional CoP were launched on 21 July 2020 (virtually). Subsequently, the Gauteng Province / Northern Regional CoP was launched on 10 September 2020 (also, virtually).

Groups of like-minded individuals embraced the notion of a Community of Practice – defined by Jean Lave and Ettiene Wegner (1991)[1] as a group of individuals who “….share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly…”.

The rationale for establishing these COPs is simple – it brings together research management professionals sharing a common interest around matters of mutual importance and value and afford an opportunity to ‘think together’. It is therefore not surprising that CoPs have become an emerging feature of the South African research management landscape at the end of the last decade. It is also not surprising that CoPs are evolving while the professionalisation of research management has become a prominent and strategic objective within the Research Management Administration (RMA) sector, not just locally but internationally.

CoPs create a platform for RMA professionals to engage in collaborative thinking and learning, knowledge sharing and networking, as well as strategizing, among others. It not only enhances greater partnerships and offers benefits to the members and member-organisations involved but is mutually beneficial to the greater region as well.

Going forward, there is a need for a national CoP and a one-day conference to showcase the work done by CoPs. The hope is that CoPs will grow beyond the borders of SA, across the African continent particularly, and beyond.

[1] Lave, Jean; Wenger, Etienne (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42374-8.; first published in 1990 as Institute for Research on Learning report 90-0013

[1] Lave, Jean; Wenger, Etienne (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42374-8.; first published in 1990 as Institute for Research on Learning report 90-0013

Written by Sidney Engelbrecht – UCT/SARIMA, Nugent Lewis – Stell and Tania Holmes-Watts – CPUT