Place-based academic policy engagement: doing it well
Author: Chris O’Brien
Published on: 24 November 2023
A project I’m currently working on with the University of Hertfordshire is the design of a new knowledge exchange and policy engagement mechanism focused on public health, part-funded by the institution’s first ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.
As we think about how this initiative can bring together academic researchers and the policy community in the East of England to address complex public health policy challenges, I have been turning to this excellent guide on co-production in regional academic policy engagement to underpin our future approaches.
The resource is from the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE), a fantastic Research England-funded knowledge exchange and research project that is exploring (in unprecedented detail) how to support effective engagement between academics and policy professionals. The CAPE website is a treasure trove of best practice, whether in blog, case study, report and toolkit, or podcast form.
The aims of this CAPE report, a collaboration with UCL’s Co-Production Collective, are to:
Support the development of funding applications that include elements of co-production in regional academic policy engagement.
Support more proactive engagement and strengthen relationships between universities and regional tiers of government.
Support individuals in research and policy organisations to consider how they can best progress co-production in their work.
“Co-production is sometimes messy and not clear cut – it is likely to involve cycles of engagement to identify needs as people move, conditions change, and politics comes in to play.”
CAPE report: Co-production in regional academic policy engagement: developing optimal conditions
Image credit: Infographic from CAPE report (page 6)
Having distilled findings from online workshops, group discussions and survey analysis involving university researchers and policy professionals from regional authorities in England, the report identifies five ‘optimal’ conditions for effective co-production in academic policy engagement at a regional level.
Condition 1: Ringfencing time for initial discussions.
Agree ways of working at an individual and group level and identify the conditions required to create trust to effect change.
Understand the roles that people play within networks and how regional networks link to others.
Understand the motivations of all involved – and how each person hopes to benefit.
Condition 2: Developing a shared understanding, a clear purpose and mutual goals for people to work towards.
Come to a shared understanding of what each individual and organisation is trying to achieve, with an agreed set of deliverables.
Ensure that someone is in a coordinating role, leading on enabling action.
Put processes in place to ensure people are not being left behind and to facilitate accessible and shared communications.
Condition 3: Creating ‘relational’ spaces during the project
Consider how to bring people together as a group, ensuring all members feel valued and comfortable to contribute.
Maintain an ongoing flow of conversations to maintain these relational spaces.
Condition 4: Establishing ethics of care in co-production
Decide how to work towards a governance structure that breaks down power differentials in the group rather than reinforcing them, and protects academic independence and any Intellectual Property.
Work collaboratively to make information useable and accessible for all, allowing space for all perspectives.
Condition 5: Embedding and sustaining co-production as a way of working
Identify people who are willing to be champions of co-production in regional academic policy engagement.
Recognise that sustaining co-production may require a dedicated or ringfenced annual budget.
Ensure that ongoing evaluation processes are in place to help understand how the work is going and allow you to feed in learning and make improvements as you go.
Check out the full report here.
(Main image credit: Neil Mewes on Unsplash)
