Engaging Communities of Practice for Sustainability: The Case of Sutherland Council, NSW

Smith G¹*

1. University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Organisations such as local councils potentially play a key role in enabling community engagement towards local sustainability. But can they achieve this role without the foundations for engagement and learning being embedded in their internal actions and decision making processes? This paper explores how engaging ‘communities of practice’, thematic groups that reflect on issues and practices of importance to sustainability in their work, can contribute to the social learning process within Council that are ultimately necessary to foster wider community engagement and local sustainability. The paper reports on the challenges and lessons emerging from recent research in Sutherland Council, NSW, where key council areas have been actively engaged in developing their own guidelines and processes for sustainability appraisal.

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