Innoversity in Communities of Practice

Abstract

This chapter is about innovation in Communities of Practice and introduces the term innoversity, which describes the role of diversity in fostering innovation. The chapter sets out to discuss when and under what circumstances of innovative practice diversity should be encouraged, as opposed to similarity. The chapter furthermore explores the following questions: 1) What actually is innovation? 2) How does innovation take place in Communities of Practice—and when does it not? 3) Why is diversity in CoPs important in fostering innovative practice? and finally 4) What can be done to foster innovation within and among Communities of Practice? This chapter therefore sets out to describe innovation in Communities of Practice, and what can be done to foster such innovation.