Evidence Symposia - exploring the evidence base on key policy themes
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Sch of Social Sciences
Abstract
This application seeks funding to support the organisation of four evidence symposia in partnership with the Welsh Government.
The symposia will bring together leading experts and senior policy makers/practitioners to review and challenge the evidence on important cross cutting policy questions and discuss policy implications.
Provisional themes for the 12 month symposia programme are:-
- Understanding civic participation - citizen centred participation or competition for scarce resources?
- The best start in life - what do we know about the impact of early interventions on children's life chances?
- Planning to meet the needs of frail, elderly people in Wales
- Well-being in Wales
The number of attendees at each symposium will be kept relatively small to encourage open, interactive discussion. An evidence briefing paper will be commissioned and circulated prior to each symposium as an evidence building block for the expert presentations and discussion. A brief report will be produced following each symposium, summarising the discussion and highlighting any evidence gaps identified and recommendations for follow-up action.
Outputs will be disseminated widely amongst academic, public and third sector audiences.
The symposia will bring together leading experts and senior policy makers/practitioners to review and challenge the evidence on important cross cutting policy questions and discuss policy implications.
Provisional themes for the 12 month symposia programme are:-
- Understanding civic participation - citizen centred participation or competition for scarce resources?
- The best start in life - what do we know about the impact of early interventions on children's life chances?
- Planning to meet the needs of frail, elderly people in Wales
- Well-being in Wales
The number of attendees at each symposium will be kept relatively small to encourage open, interactive discussion. An evidence briefing paper will be commissioned and circulated prior to each symposium as an evidence building block for the expert presentations and discussion. A brief report will be produced following each symposium, summarising the discussion and highlighting any evidence gaps identified and recommendations for follow-up action.
Outputs will be disseminated widely amongst academic, public and third sector audiences.
Planned Impact
We envisage the evidence symposia programme having two waves of impact amongst public and third sector organisations. The first wave will involve the senior policy makers/practitioners who participate in the symposia events They will join leading academic experts, to review and critically challenge the evidence base on important policy issues. In an atmosphere of openness and trust, they will explore where there is consensus on what the evidence tells us, where the evidence is missing or ambiguous and what the policy/practice implications might be.
We have already demonstrated that the evidence symposium model is an effective model for achieving this interactive, critical challenge. WISERD supported the Welsh Government to run two evidence symposia in 2010/11. The first symposium on behaviour change was held in November 2010 and the second on measuring well-being in March 2011. Both symposia generated a great deal of interest and useful discussion, and led to a number of practical outcomes, including a proposal to establish a behavioural change network and input into the Welsh Government's survey questions on well-being,
Following feedback from the previous symposia, we are proposing a number of enhancements to improve impact. For the forthcoming programme, we are proposing to extend attendance to other public sector and third sector senior policy makers/practitioners. This will bring additional perspectives and will broaden and enhance the discussion, although it will be important to keep the numbers relatively small to encourage the interaction that has been a feature of previous symposia. We envisage the symposia will raise awareness of existing research and analytical approaches, and help to identify gaps in understanding, knowledge and data. We anticipate that this will form the basis for the development of collaborative research initiatives and a closer alignment of research programmes. More broadly, the interaction between academics and policy makers/practitioners should encourage greater understanding and cooperation between sectors.
The second wave of impact will be realised by circulating widely the evidence briefings and reports of proceedings. We will place these on WISERD/WG/ESRC and other research websites, circulate to academic, public and third sector research networks and, where appropriate, include articles and news items in relevant newsletters/journals.
We have already demonstrated that the evidence symposium model is an effective model for achieving this interactive, critical challenge. WISERD supported the Welsh Government to run two evidence symposia in 2010/11. The first symposium on behaviour change was held in November 2010 and the second on measuring well-being in March 2011. Both symposia generated a great deal of interest and useful discussion, and led to a number of practical outcomes, including a proposal to establish a behavioural change network and input into the Welsh Government's survey questions on well-being,
Following feedback from the previous symposia, we are proposing a number of enhancements to improve impact. For the forthcoming programme, we are proposing to extend attendance to other public sector and third sector senior policy makers/practitioners. This will bring additional perspectives and will broaden and enhance the discussion, although it will be important to keep the numbers relatively small to encourage the interaction that has been a feature of previous symposia. We envisage the symposia will raise awareness of existing research and analytical approaches, and help to identify gaps in understanding, knowledge and data. We anticipate that this will form the basis for the development of collaborative research initiatives and a closer alignment of research programmes. More broadly, the interaction between academics and policy makers/practitioners should encourage greater understanding and cooperation between sectors.
The second wave of impact will be realised by circulating widely the evidence briefings and reports of proceedings. We will place these on WISERD/WG/ESRC and other research websites, circulate to academic, public and third sector research networks and, where appropriate, include articles and news items in relevant newsletters/journals.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Gareth Rees (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | As reported in the End of Award Report, the Evidence Symposia made a significant contribution to the development of knowledge-exchange activities in Wales. In particular, the experience derived from the Symposia contributed - along with a number of other factors - to the establishment of the Public Policy Institute for Wales (PPIW). The latter has now developed into the major vehicle through which academic researchers and other independent experts contribute directly to the policy development process within the Welsh Government. It provides written reports, briefings and evidence symposia to Welsh Government ministers and their advisers, collaborating closely with departmental civil servants in doing so. (For details of the PPIW's activities to date, go to ppiw.org.uk) The PPIW has also become a part of the What Works Network, providing a strong link between What Works Centres from across the UK and Welsh policy makers and practitioners. It has a particular focus on public services reform and tackling poverty, but works across the full range of Welsh Government responsibilities. WISERD itself continues to build on the experience developed through the Evidence Symposia. Knowledge exchange activities include regular meetings between WISERD staff and the Chief Social Research Officer of the Welsh Government and his colleagues. In addition, evidence symposia continue to be organized, following the organizational pattern developed through the Symposia supported by the ESRC. For example, one was held recently (25 March 2015) on the use of comparative analysis to evaluate the performance of the Welsh education system. More generally, WISERD's participation in the Evidence Symposia has provided a basis for contributing to the wider development of evidence-based policy. For example, in collaboration with the Alliance for Useful Evidence, a person will shortly be appointed to develop the application of research evidence to the policy development process in Wales. Again as reported initially in the End of Award Report, given the very modest nature of the project reported on here, it is much more difficult to establish direct links between the Evidence Symposia and actual changes in policy. For example, it is arguable that the Well-Being of Future Generations bill currently progressing through the National Assembly for Wales was shaped - at least in part - by the Evidence Symposium on Well-Being. However, it is extremely difficult to establish the linkages definitively. At best, it is possible to say that it the Symposium constituted an early step in the development of this particular piece of legislation. Similar arguments might be made in respect of other Evidence Symposia and other policy developments, such as, for example, the restructuring of the Foundation Phase and the bringing together of health and social care provision in Wales. In summary, therefore, the Evidence Symposia have provided an important input into a more systematic engagement within Wales between policy-makers (especially those within the Welsh Government) and academic researchers and other independent experts. There is clear evidence of a shift in the process of policy development and this is extremely significant in the context of the extension of devolved powers in Wales. However, it should be acknowledged that - as yet - it is much more difficult to demonstrate the linkages between engagement with research-based evidence and policy outputs. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |