What is a CoP?
One of the key activities of The Water Agency is to organise Community of Practice sessions, 'CoP' in short. But what is a CoP – and what do we do during these sessions?
In Myanmar we organise CoP sessions on a regular basis. Previously we hosted sessions on:
The Myanmar Water CoP sessions stimulate peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and learning between local and international water experts and empowers local ownership. The CoP provides a connection between existing groups and provides a key place for water issues related matters to be considered, discussed and resolved.
Key functions of the CoP are:
- Sharing information on specific water management issue through expert meetings and seminars
- Providing commentary and critique on key water programs in Myanmar such as flooding and river transport
- Influence decision makers and identify critical gaps and opportunities
- Elevate the issue of specific water challenges into a broader planning context
As the Myanmar Water CoP is driven by local ownership, it focuses on the water challenges as presented by the local experts. This offers a unique and valuable insight into the issues that really matter to people locally, who owns them, what approaches are considered, how these are prioritised, etc. The focus of connecting international Water Experts with local Water Experts is a proven methodology and builds (local) capacity. There is a strong linkage between real interactions and online discussions via knowledge portals.
Diversity
The Myanmar Water CoP has members from government agencies, private companies, universities, research institutes, NGOs, start-ups and independent experts. Some are based in the Yangon, some are not (yet). But they all share an active interest to make water work for Myanmar: healthy rivers, safe coasts, prosperous ports, resilient cities and communities and clean water for all.