A partnership
Pioneers in social learning
Living productively
at the boundary between theory and practice
We are social learning theorists and consultants. We work on developing and publishing conceptual frameworks and practices to address the learning challenges facing the world today. We do this by engaging in concrete projects, consulting with all sorts of organizations in the private and public sectors. Our consulting practice specializes in large-scale social learning challenges that require bringing people together across practices, organizations, geography, sectors, and disciplines. Our learning theory is built on this practical experience.
- Joint professional bios of various lengths
- Some pictures you can use in announcements
- A joint personal story with facts of life you won’t in professional bios
- Joint publications
Professional bios
Joint bios of various lengths
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner are internationally renowned social learning theorists and consultants. Their pioneering work in the field of social learning has been influential in such diverse fields as learning theory, business, government, international development, healthcare, and education. Their consulting practice specializes in contexts where there are large-scale social learning challenges. They bring people together across organizations, geography, sectors, and disciplines to address complex problems.
| Etienne is known for his consulting and seminal work on communities of practice. He has authored and co-authored many articles and books on the topic, including Situated Learning, where the term “community of practice” was coined; Communities of Practice: learning, meaning, and identity, where he lays out a theory of learning based on the concept; Cultivating Communities of Practice, a practical guide addressed to leaders of initiatives in organizations; Digital Habitats, which tackles issues related to the use of technology. Though he does not hold a full-time academic position, he is one of the most cited authors in the social sciences. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Brighton and the Open University in the UK. | Beverly is known for her work with international organizations including cross-boundary processes and the use of new technologies. Her expertise encompasses the design and facilitation of social learning strategies and coaching of social learning leaders in complex situations. Once an activist for international equitable development, her passion has matured into an intellectual drive to help people and institutions get better at making a difference. Recently, she acted as learning consultant for the World Bank on a long-term development project in Africa. Her 2014 report on using the value-creation framework in this project has attracted the attention of practitioners and evaluators across the international development community. |
Together Etienne and Beverly are developing and publishing theoretical and practical frameworks to address the learning challenges facing public and private organizations, communities, and society today. To this end, they have founded the Social Learning Lab in Sesimbra, Portugal, where they host series of events oriented to theory, practice, and leadership. They contributed several chapters—in particular, the framing chapter—to the co-edited volume Learning in landscapes of practice, which expands the theory beyond single communities. In Designing for change, they use their framework to describe an innovative higher-education project. Systems convening sheds light on a crucial form of social-learning leadership for the 21st century and their new Communities of practice guidebook informs organizational practitioners. They have started a book series called Learning to make a difference. They recently published the first volume, which introduces the concept of social learning space as a new foundation for the theory, and their value-creation framework as a tool for both conceptualizing and cultivating social learning.
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner are internationally renowned social learning theorists and consultants. Their pioneering work in the field of social learning has been influential in such diverse fields as learning theory, business, government, international development, healthcare, and education. Their consulting practice specializes in contexts where there are large-scale social learning challenges. They bring people together across organizations, geography, sectors, and disciplines to address complex problems.
Etienne is known for his seminal work on communities of practice and Beverly is known for her work with international organizations. Together they are developing and publishing theoretical and practical frameworks to address the learning challenges facing public and private organizations, communities, and society today. To this end, they have founded the Social Learning Lab in Sesimbra, Portugal, where they host series of events oriented to theory, practice, and leadership. They contributed several chapters—in particular, the framing chapter—to the co-edited volume Learning in landscapes of practice, which expands the theory beyond single communities. In Designing for change, they use their framework to describe an innovative higher-education project. Systems convening sheds light on a crucial form of social-learning leadership for the 21st century and their new Communities of practice guidebook informs organizational practitioners. They have started a book series called Learning to make a difference. They recently published the first volume, which introduces the concept of social learning space as a new foundation for the theory, and their value-creation framework as a tool for both conceptualizing and cultivating social learning.
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner are internationally renowned social learning theorists and consultants. Their pioneering work in social learning is influential in such diverse fields as learning theory, business, government, international development, healthcare, and education. Their consulting practice specializes in contexts where there are large-scale social learning challenges. They founded the Social Learning Lab, where they host series of events oriented to theory, practice, and leadership. The co-edited volume Learning in landscapes of practice expands the theory beyond single communities. Systems convening sheds light on a crucial form of social-learning leadership and their new Communities of practice guidebook informs organizational practitioners. They have started a book series called Learning to make a difference and recently published the first volume. It introduces the concept of social learning space as a new foundation for the theory, and their value-creation framework as a tool for both conceptualizing and cultivating social learning.
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner are internationally renowned social learning theorists and consultants. Their pioneering writing and consulting is influential in diverse fields including learning theory, business, government, international development, healthcare, and education. They founded the Social Learning Lab to host events on theory, practice, and leadership. Their more recent writing updated the theory in Learning in landscapes of practice and in the first volume in their new book series: Learning to make a difference: value creation in social learning spaces. Their latest practical writing, which provides guidance for social-learning leadership, includes Systems convening and the new Communities of practice guidebook.
Growing a partnership
The story with a few facts of life not found in professional bios
We have been developing a growing work-life partnership since 2008. We are married as well as partners in our thinking, writing, and consultancy. We view our relationship as a learning partnership; social learning spaces have become an integral part of how we try to live our relationship.
This blend of the personal and the professional seeps out into nearly everything we do. For example, we have always hosted our workshop in our home. And we had a week-long wedding in 2011 so we could spend meaningful time with friends and family who came from different parts of the world for the celebration. In true facilitation style, we organized each day around a conversational theme, such as children, growing old, and legacy.
This was the third marriage for both, but we know we have landed. Between us, we have five children and three grandchildren, most of whom live in California. We live in Portugal, which Bev considers her home. After ten years of living with Etienne in Grass Valley, California, until his youngest son went to university, she brought us back to Setúbal where she had lived for many years. Now we have bought our new house in Sesimbra, where we are establishing our Social Learning Lab. Both homebodies, we love the idea of developing a lab and hosting its events in our home.
We share an ambitious dream to leave a legacy that contributes to the survival of our planet and our species. We think it depends on the ability of individuals, groups, and institutions to learn quicker and more effectively. This enables the transformation of everyday practice to address emerging challenges and opportunities. It depends on advancing our social learning capability at scale.
Our joint publications
We have been working together since 2009. These are books we have written jointly.
