Communities of Practice and gender equality

This chapter examines to what extent Communities of Practice (CoP) can facilitate conditions for effective gender equality interventions in research and academia in Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on the experience of the Community of Practice for Gender Equality in Central and Eastern Europe, this chapter particularly reflects upon the needs and expectations that have been voiced by the CoP members. It also examines the usefulness of CoP as a mechanism fostering the necessary conditions for advancing gender equality, including the agency of change actors and the engagement of organisational stakeholders, building up gender know-how, access to practical tools for designing evidence-based interventions, managing resistance, and framing gender equality within wider concepts and human and financial resources.