Who we are
Who we are
The Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice (TWP CoP) is a global network of practitioners and researchers in development and global affairs committed to promoting more effective development policy and practice. The TWP CoP works to promote more politically aware approaches to development, encourage their adaptation, translate findings and implications emerging from political economy analysis into operationally relevant guidance, and provide evidence-based insights that can stimulate innovation, sharing and learning.
Since the TWP CoP came together in 2013, it has received funding from organisations including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). With funding from FCDO, the TWP CoP had a Secretariat hosted at the University of Birmingham, in the United Kingdom.
The TWP CoP is currently working in partnership with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in an effort to preserve knowledge, maintain institutional memory, and continue to support collective learning and the sharing of experiences across actors interested in TWP.
What is TWP?
The Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice (TWP CoP) is a diverse and growing global network of practitioners and researchers in development and global affairs committed to promoting more effective development policy and practice. Bringing together individuals with extensive experience working in or with donor agencies, implementing partners, civil society organisations, and the research community The TWP CoP first came together in Delhi in 2013. Since then, through both its individual members and as a loose network, the TWP CoP has been working to promote more politically aware approaches to development, diplomacy and global affairs, encourage adaptation, translate findings and implications emerging from political economy analysis into operationally relevant guidance, and provide evidence-based insights that can stimulate innovation, sharing and learning.
The CoP has done this by engaging collectively with experts and practitioners engaged in international development, diplomacy and global affairs, collating, and sharing information, providing strategic guidance and advice, developing practical tools, providing training workshops, promoting new studies/research, and perhaps most importantly creating a safe space for frank conversations and exchange of ideas, the sharing of experiences, and learning.
Through our various activities, to the TWP CoP offers:
- A safe space for members bringing policymakers, practitioners, civil society representatives, researchers, and funders together to have challenging discussions together, on an individual basis rather than on behalf of their organisations.
- A peer challenge and reaffirmation function encouraging members to keep asking hard questions and push the boundaries of knowledge and practice.
- Increased knowledge sharing on TWP among CoP member organisations and other relevant partners.
- A curation, synthesis and sharing of knowledge function, building on ongoing work and innovation in this area and capturing and applying lessons.
- The development and dissemination of guidance and tools for thinking and working politically across development and global affairs.
- A vehicle for policy influencing and advocacy
The TWP CoP is not just a space to discuss new ideas around the theory of TWP. Its main purpose is for practitioners to share experiences regarding how ‘TWP’ or ‘adaptive management’ is being applied in practice. It is also a mechanism to share evidence about what we think may be working, as well as what may not be, how and why, and to discuss and learn from innovative approaches that are being tested on the ground. CoP members have consistently found the Community useful for socialising and embedding TWP within their own organisations and for challenging emerging practice both internally and further afield. It has provided a space to address organisational and incentive-based challenges to integration of TWP into policy and programming, including by bringing in members from different professional areas and sectors and those designing, implementing, managing and evaluating development programmes. To find out more about what we do, take a look at our latest publications, events, and newsletters!
Structure of the TWP CoP
Membership – The TWP CoP is open to anyone who is interested in joining, with no formal membership process. The only requirement is that members adhere to the principle that the CoP should focus on providing a platform for sharing and learning among individuals and organisations. Members are encouraged to exchange information with other community members and to take part in CoP activities. If you would like to join the Community, please drop us an email at info@twpcommunity.org .
Steering Committee – The Steering Committee provides guidance on the TWP CoP strategic and partnership approach. The Steering Committee consists of leading experts from the research, policy and practitioner communities with an established track record of innovation in politically informed programming, influencing policy and producing evidence. The TWP CoP Director chairs the TWP CoP Steering Committee, provides the strategic direction of the TWP CoP and takes the lead on management, the coordination and implementation of CoP activities, and communications.
Until 2025, the TWP CoP also had an active TWP CoP Washington DC Working Group. As a result of the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2025 and the effect this has had on development programming, the DC Working Group has suspended formal operations for now, while the network continues to come together in a more informal basis to discuss issues broadly related to TWP as well as to maintain a space of social solidarity and collaboration.