This paper reports on a new version of the ISSOTL (International Society of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning)-based International Collaborative Writing Groups (ICWGs), which has a specific focus on public scholarship. In this study, we focus on the community-based elements of the ICWGs-Public, and in particular on community-based academic development, including cross-institutional and international collaboration aspects of ICWGs-Public. In this qualitative study, we use Wenger and Wenger-Trayner's communities of practice evaluation framework, which outlines seven levels of value, to explore the potential outcomes and benefits of ICWGs-Public, based on a series of semi-structured interviews with participants. ICWGs-Public show potential as a model for cross-institutional community-based academic development, particularly if the community of practice has a strong central focus, in this case public SoTL. Community-based academic development may therefore have an important role to play in extending SoTL beyond the academic realm.