Technical Community of Practice
Overview
The Shelter Cluster Technical Community of Practice (CoP) is a venue for sharing and exchanging information, knowledge, and expertise on technical issues related to humanitarian shelter and settlement programs among shelter cluster partners at global and field levels.
It is a voluntary group of individuals with expertise and interest in all shelter and settlement technical programming aspects of humanitarian shelter and settlement response. It is open to all interested individuals, regardless of agency affiliation. The initiative's value depends on the active participation of its members.
The new GSC Technical CoP also allows for continuing discussions in previous Working Group (WG) initiatives, including the NFI practices WG and Construction Standards WG.
Please complete a survey on the Technical CoP’s thematic priorities by October 15th, available here in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Language can be selected on the right top corner of the questionnaire.
Purpose
The Shelter Cluster Technical CoP aims to provide a platform for exchanging knowledge, resources, and technical support related to shelter and settlement programs. It establishes a strong network of individuals and agencies that can discuss, share experiences, and collaborate on new initiatives to support the technical aspects of shelter programming.
Structure
IFRC will moderate the Shelter Technical CoP (with the support of SDC). All individuals interested in shelter and settlement technical issues (including NFI specifications, construction standards, and safer building technologies, amongst many others) are invited to join as members of the CoP and to contribute actively.
Function
The functions of the Shelter Technical CoP will be to:
- Facilitate discussions and exchanges on common technical issues, aiming to harmonize practices and enhance a common approach to distributions, construction standards, fire safety, safer building technologies, and more.
- Share lessons learned, resources, guidelines, tools, and best practices on technical aspects of shelter and settlements programming, including technical standards and guidelines of country-level shelter clusters.
- Co-develop and share learning resources as necessary and of interest to partners.
- Advance on previous NFI WG initiatives, including the need for better contextualization of HHI responses and the definition of new packages for NFI kits, considering emerging trends. Estimate their carbon footprint and environmental impact (in coordination with the Environment CoP).
- Identify further shelter technical issues that need additional support from other GSC bodies: WGs, the SAG, and the GSC Shelter Support Team.
Limitation
The Technical CoP will not cover technical themes that already have their own CoP, such as Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion; Environment; Cash and Markets; or addressed by a Working Group (WG), such as Settlement Approaches in Urban Areas, but will aim to complement their work.
Membership and Participation
- Active participation is encouraged from individuals who represent agencies and independents who are engaged in or interested in the technical aspects of shelter and settlements programming.
- Any registered member can initiate conversation threads pending approval by the moderator(s).
Disclaimer
Although composed of individuals, the legitimacy of the CoP and any agreed-upon outcomes derives from endorsement by members representing their agencies. The answers provided by CoPs are in good faith, but neither the Global Shelter Cluster nor its leads or partner agencies can be liable for any damage caused by the information provided.
To join the CoP, you should do the following:
- Create an account on www.sheltercluster.org
- Click ‘Follow’ on the left-hand side of the Technical Community of Practice webpage
- You will now be able to create and reply to discussions within the CoP and receive updates from the CoP and invitations to CoP events.