The first steps for implementing the CoFE method is the CoI creation and initiation. In order to support the developement of hybrid expertise in each CoI:

1. Members of the same CoI should come from different (academic or professional) background (e.g., PhD students, BA students, admin staff, post-doc researchers, in-service teachers, professors, etc.)
2. Members of the same CoI should bring a main identity/expertise from different CoPs (e.g., researchers in mathematics education, software developers, mathematicians, teacher educators, psychologists, etc.) into the CoI
3. Each CoI should consist of members of as many as possible organizations
4. The identities of the members of each CoI should be relevant to one dimension of the corresponding CoI theme and together cover up all its main dimensions
5. Each member’s personal interests and motives should be consistent with the main interests and objectives of the corresponding CoI

For the purposes of the initiation of a CoI the TransEET project developed a set of conceptual tools, including the following three templates:

1. The ‘CoI Member Profile’ Template
2. The ‘CoI Profile’ Template
3. The ‘CoI Moderation’ Template

These templates act as a common frame that allows partners to reflect on and be explicit about their identities within the CoI group and the internal procedures in forming and initiating the CoI. Furthermore, the templates aim at facilitating the development of a “shared language” across all partners on CoI formation issues.

The CoI Member Profile Template

The CoI Member Profile Template involves the description of the identity of each member of the CoI. It is filled by each member individually and shared with the rest of the CoI members. It is divided in five sections:

1. the member’s basic information, including their name, institution and their identities. The latter element involves all the different identities (academic, professional) a person has (e.g., Researcher in Mathematics Education, Teachers Educator, In-service teacher, etc.) and the selection of one of them as the ‘main identity represented in COI’
2. the member’s background, including their expertise/disciplinary domains, their knowledge background and their professional experience
3. the member’s epistemological background, including main keywords linking to epistemological perspectives connected to their expertise
4. the member’s interests, involving their research, professional or personal interests
5. a brief descriptive bio of the member in relation to their participation in the respective CoI, involving a brief informal description of themselves, of their knowledge background, of their current field of practice and interest, and a brief statement about a) what they aspire to be their contribution in the CoI and b) what they expect to learn-gain from the CoI.

The purpose of the CoI Member Profile Template is twofold. On the one hand, it provides an opportunity for each member to reflect on their position and identity within the CoI, with respect to what they can offer, based on their expertise, and what they can gain from it, based on their interests. On the other hand, it consists of a shared space for CoI members to get to know each other’s background, expertise, interests and motives and adjust their own identity within the CoI in order to form a heterogeneous, well-balanced group.

The CoI Profile Template

The ‘CoI Profile’ Template provides a collective description of the CoI as a unit of people from different backgrounds, with diverse, complementary motives and interests. This template is filled by one member of each CoI and reviewed by the rest of them, after all CoI Member Profiles of the respective CoI would have been completed and read. The template is divided in five sections, each one pointing out an axis from the CoI’s structure. The axes consist of:

1. the CoI’s diversity; where all the CoI members’ identities are gathered together and viewed as a unit, projecting the level of the group’s heterogeneity
2. the CoI’s configuration; where the procedure and the (explicit and implicit) criteria based on which the CoI members were recruited/nominated
3. the CoI’s shared interest; where the “common interest” (i.e., goal, task or problem) set to the CoI is defined along with the way members’ personal interests are connected to it 
4. the CoI’s sustainability; where the issue of the CoI sustainability and the way it can ensured in the long run, as well as how the particular shared interest and CoI members’ individual motives, together with appropriate incentives to be employed by the partner-in-change, can ensure unity and sustainability of the CoI
5. the intended role of the CoI with regards to the CoPs being represented
6. the aspired workplan of the CoI; where a tentative workplan sighting the cycles of CoI work and development is tentatively outlined

Reflecting on the above axes gave all CoIs the opportunity to acquire a concrete identity deriving from all individuals’ identities and bridging their interests and motives.

The CoI Moderation Template

The ‘CoI Moderation’ Template includes the description of the CoI’s strategy and of the orchestration of its activities that mark the initiation of its research work. This template is also intended to be filled by one member of each CoI and reviewed by the rest of them, after the emerging issues were collectively discussed. Its structure is divided in three parts:

1. the CoI’s strategy; where the main axes of the strategy for organizing, monitoring, and supporting the initiation and work cycle of the CoI is described. The axes refer to: 1. the role of the moderator, in terms of either transparency (a distinct role assigned to a specific person-s) or saliency (a role not directly assigned to a specific person-s), 2. the identity of the moderator and their position in the CoI (if applicable) and 3. the moderation model adopted (if applicable)
2. the CoI’s orchestrations of face-to-face (f2f) and online activities; where a number of issues is addressed: 1. who orchestrates, using which tools, and following which configurations, leading towards models of orchestration of both f2f and online activities; 2. decisions about the CoI schedule for representing the organization of activities during the CoI work; 3. the rationale of selected f2f and online activities; 4. the planning of selected f2f and online activities
3. procedures for monitoring and supporting the CoI creative performance; where specific procedures for monitoring, supporting and facilitating the CoI creative performance by aligning with the aspired workplan, are reported.

The CoI moderation template addresses some additional points regarding the CoI’s inner functioning procedures in the way they have been decided by each CoI member during the first three months of the project. Filling in these templates brought out the CoIs’ stronger or weaker points and offered a chance for communication among members from different CoIs in order to adjust their own moderation model and strengthen their strategies.In a nutshell, a strong Community of Interest grows out of variety, a common goal, and a bit of gentle steering. So, if you’re keen to kick-start your own CoI, first invite people with truly different backgrounds, then have everyone fill out the Member Profile to spell out what they bring and what they seek. Next, blend those profiles into a single CoI profile to pin down your shared purpose and sketch a simple roadmap. Finally, agree on a light moderation plan, who coordinates, how you’ll meet, and how you’ll track progress, and keep all three templates alive by revisiting them often.