Sustaining professional learning communities

Abstract

The Dutch horticulture sector has to deal with challenges related to sustainability and advancing technology. Engaging professionals and (engineering) students by working together in learning communities (LCs) is an emerging approach to respond to 'wicked problems'. In the Greenport West-Holland there are different types of these public-private collaboration initiatives. They work and learn together in LCs in order to innovate. Research has been done on how to start a LC, however it is not completely understood how it can (effectively) last. This research, funded by the province of South Holland, aims to gain insight into what it takes to engage participants of LCs in the longer term. Our research question is: What factors contribute to sustainable learning communities in the Greenport West-Holland? We interviewed public and private partners (n=10) of five LCs. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed in Atlas Ti. Results show that collaboration between private and public parties is crucial in a sector in transition. Different disciplines come together: technical domains (e.g. robotization), horticultural knowledge, business and educational knowledge. The type of LC matters. The analysis revealed that to sustain the collaboration the LC should focus, among other things, on attracting people with drive and personal commitment to the shared ambition (instead of inviting organisations), should continually work on community building and show intermediate outcomes of actions and impacts. Identified preconditions for sustainable LCs are a good reputation and and long-term (financial) support.