Well, our group had two distinct focusses for discussion so it was difficult to address specific ones in such a little time.

(We thought it would be better to create four groups for the whole group and threrefore, the discussion about facilitation was mixed with the one about communities, which didn't encourage the elaboration of precise recommendations.)

The points we came out with are thus quite independent one from the other.

Anyway the discussion was interesting and I will try to sum it up as best as I can. Of course, everyone can add corrections and suggestions to my text

The question that had been raised before the face to face workshop was related to commmunities of practice and taken from Philippe's blog, as an answer to interventions from Vicky and Bev :

The question was to discuss whether, even if we feel and know that there are no recepies to "implement" communities, we could at least identify ingredients...

"...These (the ingredients) are related to the already existing needs of the people who exist as dispersed communities and for whom we'd like to facilitate networking and collaboration through technologies.

What tools to offer?

What different ways to offer these tools?

How to provide opportunities and scenarios to allow for non-artificial exchanges?

How to adapt to different situations, different roles?"

This exchange can be read here:

The five following recommendations we wrote can be related to these questions:

1. Start small and targetted but open and give the community the potential to grow (through facilitation and resources)

Which means that we should not be too ambitious in the way we design spaces for interaction, otherwise people can get lost and we loose them. But if we try to define simple things that answer basic needs and existing technological skills we have more opportunities to grow fruitful seeds.

2. Use existing networks and build from their needs

This proceeds from the quite the same idea....with an added notion: of course, except from some isolated exceptions, communities on the net are built on existing dispersed communities (people who share the same interests) so it is quite illusory to imagine to "create" a community that is not already existing, even if this community has no visibility at all.

I mean, the key is to identify communities that don't know they are communities and to make their members aware of it..

3. Propose (at first) very simple online modes of communication (questions/aswers style)

This relates once again to the fact that we have to start very little and maybe grow from there.,

4. Be rather critical and practical than ideological

(Avoid fashion effects and "engouements"/"craze??")

5. Provide demand-driven resources

Take a very careful care to people needs and provide them rather with what they express and what we can observe, rather than what we imagine they need...

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This last point is related to the motivation of trainees (and also of trainers, I feel):

6. Give people a recognized certificate or at least credits (agreed by a university, for instance) so that the people feel more motivated to follow the course.

Grades can be put in a CV and trainings have less "value" if they are not institutionalized.