Digital communities of practice and the knowledge transformation cycle: Enabling sustainable food systems through AI and Metaverse technologies

This study develops a conceptual framework to theorise how digitally augmented Communities of Practice (CoPs), such as the Slow Food Movement, can support sustainable food systems transformation through advanced knowledge management. Although digital innovation is increasingly applied in agri-food systems, much of the literature remains technocentric, focusing on infrastructure and automation, while overlooking how digital tools mediate community-based knowledge flows and adaptive capabilities. Addressing this gap, we integrate Nonaka and Takeuchi's SECI model with Teece's dynamic capabilities framework to examine how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Metaverse technologies enable CoPs to create, share, and transform knowledge. The main contribution is the DEKA-CoPs model (Digitally Enabled Knowledge Architecture in Communities of Practice), which explains how digital mediation can enhance epistemic agility, collaborative innovation, and system adaptability. Methodologically, the paper uses a theory-building approach to develop four propositions that can guide future empirical work. This framework advances knowledge management and sustainability literature by shifting the focus from firm-based innovation to digitally enabled, community-led knowledge infrastructures. It offers practical implications for policymakers, technologists, and sustainability practitioners interested in designing inclusive, adaptive platforms that embed local knowledge in agri-food transitions. • Theorisation of digitally-enabled communities of practice by merging SECI and dynamic capabilities frameworks. • Unified model for innovation knowledge architecture for digital communities of practice in sustainable food systems. • AI and Metaverse as participatory epistemologies for sustainable food system innovation. • AI and Metaverse's role in inclusive, community-led agrifood system innovation. • Conceptualisation of digitally-enabled communities of practice as knowledge architectures.