Panel details

Panel organiser(s) will be presenting	In-Person & Online
Number of paper presentations	5
Location	Bergen

Abstract

In recent years, communities of practice have emerged as critical spaces for challenging entrenched power structures in the humanitarian sector. These self-organised, peer-driven spaces bring together actors across geographies, identities, and roles to collectively interrogate dominant logics and build more equitable ways of working. Often operating outside traditional hierarchies and funding models, communities of practice allow for shared learning, mutual accountability, and coalition-building—thereby contributing to shifting power in both discourse and practice.
This panel explores communities of practice as political sites of solidarity, resistance and power redistribution. It invites papers and presentations that examine how these spaces are formed, sustained, and mobilised; what forms of knowledge and solidarity they generate; and how they relate to broader debates around localisation, decolonisation, and humanitarian governance. Contributions may also reflect on how donors and INGOs engage with or resist these spaces, and how they can partner more meaningfully with grassroots networks.
The panel also welcomes both emerging and established communities of practice dedicated to shifting power in the humanitarian sector to showcase their work, opening space for cross-learning and potential collaboration.

Paper presentations