The local and global knowledge dynamics through communities. The case of communities of makers and social entrepreneurs in Barcelona

Previous research has underlined the multiscalar character of the knowledge dynamics that are involved in the localized innovation processes. The article studies the local and global knowledge dynamics of two types of communities of practice (CoPs) outside organizations located in Barcelona, by taking a community-based view of their local and global linkages. At the local level, our results show that community members participate in a ‘local buzz’ through the cognitive proximity with local peers. In parallel, they develop ‘local pipelines’ with other local actors outside the community, reinforcing their local embeddedness. Similarly, at the global level, local communities exchange knowledge with similar distant communities by engaging in a ‘global buzz’ generated around networks of practice (NoPs) while creating ‘global pipelines’ with distant actors external to the NoP. The results show that the four different knowledge dynamics (local buzz, local pipelines, global buzz and global pipelines) are interrelated and reinforce each other mutually.