Wales Centre for Public Policy
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Cardiff Business School
Abstract
Wales is grappling with complex and long-standing policy challenges including how to meet the needs of an ageing population, reduce poverty, and increase productivity whilst transitioning to a Net-Zero Carbon economy and dealing with the fall-out from Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) enables policy makers and public services to access and apply high-quality independent research evidence and expertise that helps to improve national and local responses to these and other challenges.
The WCPP has already achieved significant success. We have had a demonstrable impact on a range of policy decisions and our unique, demand-led approach has attracted growing national and international recognition. Our proposal responds to an invitation from the ESRC and Welsh Government to set out plans to sustain and build on this success over the next five years.
We will continue to conduct three distinct but inter-related programmes of work. Our work for the Welsh Government will ensure that ministerial advice, decisions, and policy direction are based on rigorous evidence. We will link policy officials to academic experts and identify opportunities for enhancing policy formulation through research. We will support the development of research capability in the Welsh Government. And, through our Research Apprenticeship scheme, PhD Internships, and the support, mentoring, and career development provided to our team, we will help build a new cadre of researchers who have the skills needed to generate and mobilise policy-relevant research.
We will provide Public Services Boards (PSBs), local government and other public services with rigorous independent evidence about what works in improving long-term cultural, economic, environmental, and social well-being. We will work with our funders, PSBs, and public services to conduct a systematic evidence-needs analysis, and to co-design a programme of activities that helps to support the delivery of PSBs' well-being plans, build local capability and capacity to use evidence, and promote evaluative approaches to assessing implementation and impact.
Our research on evidence use will draw on and contribute to leading-edge academic literature and inform and improve the way we in which work. It will advance understanding of evidence use through analysis of ours and others' experience of mobilising evidence, and it will systematically evaluate the impact and value-added of our work for ministers and public services.
The WCPP's multi-disciplinary team provides a unique blend of experience of working in academia, national and local government, voluntary sector, think tanks and consultancy. This enables us to act as an effective bridge between the academic and policy making communities. It also means we are able to work with colleagues from a wide range of different disciplines. Our established project management processes will ensure effective management of external experts, and our work will be tailored to the distinctive policy agenda in Wales (including the well-being goals and ways of working) and recognise the importance of the Welsh language.
By collaborating with external experts to draw on their existing research, we will provide rapid responses to urgent evidence needs identified by ministers and public services. Alongside this, we will focus on a small number of core topics that are priorities for the ESRC, Welsh Government and PSBs and which we are well placed to provide valuable evidence on. This focused approach will enable us to build up a body of sustained work and develop specialist knowledge and networks. We will work closely with national and local policy makers to co-design projects that support them to understand what will work in their specific political and policy contexts. And through our collaborations with What Works Centres and other strategic networks we will ensure that Wales continues to benefit from the work of other evidence providers.
The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) enables policy makers and public services to access and apply high-quality independent research evidence and expertise that helps to improve national and local responses to these and other challenges.
The WCPP has already achieved significant success. We have had a demonstrable impact on a range of policy decisions and our unique, demand-led approach has attracted growing national and international recognition. Our proposal responds to an invitation from the ESRC and Welsh Government to set out plans to sustain and build on this success over the next five years.
We will continue to conduct three distinct but inter-related programmes of work. Our work for the Welsh Government will ensure that ministerial advice, decisions, and policy direction are based on rigorous evidence. We will link policy officials to academic experts and identify opportunities for enhancing policy formulation through research. We will support the development of research capability in the Welsh Government. And, through our Research Apprenticeship scheme, PhD Internships, and the support, mentoring, and career development provided to our team, we will help build a new cadre of researchers who have the skills needed to generate and mobilise policy-relevant research.
We will provide Public Services Boards (PSBs), local government and other public services with rigorous independent evidence about what works in improving long-term cultural, economic, environmental, and social well-being. We will work with our funders, PSBs, and public services to conduct a systematic evidence-needs analysis, and to co-design a programme of activities that helps to support the delivery of PSBs' well-being plans, build local capability and capacity to use evidence, and promote evaluative approaches to assessing implementation and impact.
Our research on evidence use will draw on and contribute to leading-edge academic literature and inform and improve the way we in which work. It will advance understanding of evidence use through analysis of ours and others' experience of mobilising evidence, and it will systematically evaluate the impact and value-added of our work for ministers and public services.
The WCPP's multi-disciplinary team provides a unique blend of experience of working in academia, national and local government, voluntary sector, think tanks and consultancy. This enables us to act as an effective bridge between the academic and policy making communities. It also means we are able to work with colleagues from a wide range of different disciplines. Our established project management processes will ensure effective management of external experts, and our work will be tailored to the distinctive policy agenda in Wales (including the well-being goals and ways of working) and recognise the importance of the Welsh language.
By collaborating with external experts to draw on their existing research, we will provide rapid responses to urgent evidence needs identified by ministers and public services. Alongside this, we will focus on a small number of core topics that are priorities for the ESRC, Welsh Government and PSBs and which we are well placed to provide valuable evidence on. This focused approach will enable us to build up a body of sustained work and develop specialist knowledge and networks. We will work closely with national and local policy makers to co-design projects that support them to understand what will work in their specific political and policy contexts. And through our collaborations with What Works Centres and other strategic networks we will ensure that Wales continues to benefit from the work of other evidence providers.
Publications
Baan, A-M
(2023)
Report - Implementation-minded policy making - 13 November 2023
Barreto, M
(2023)
Report - Loneliness Inequalities Evidence Review - 9 August 2023
Carter I
(2023)
Can we promote plural local pathways to sustainable development? Insights from the implementation of Wales's Future Generations Act
in Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning
Coles-Riley, J
(2023)
Report - How could Wales feed itself in 2035? - 25 July 2023
Coles-Riley, J
(2023)
Commentary - It's time to talk about loneliness inequalities - 16 June 2023
| Description | Impacts on Welsh Government policy across a wide range of devolved responsibilities |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Our research has a clear impact on a wide range of policy areas which are devolved to Wales. These include: 1. Review of international poverty and social exclusion strategies - this work informed the Welsh Government's Child Poverty Strategy for Wales 2024. The strategy states that: "The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) review concluded that an anti-poverty strategy would by necessity need to prioritise areas for action in order to be effective. It sets out that the views of those with lived experience of poverty and social exclusion should play a critical role to determine what is most important. The WCPP suggested that the Welsh Government might best coordinate its efforts around four areas of focus: Reducing costs and maximising income, 'Pathways' out of poverty, An enabling environment and Mental load and mental health. These four areas informed the development of four 'areas for discussion' that were included in a pre-consultation document used as the basis for engagement sessions to generate evidence to inform a consultation draft of this strategy." The Centre's report was discussed by the Welsh Government's cabinet (5/6/23) and cited in the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report - Calling time on child poverty: how Wales can do better. It states that "The findings of the report bythe Wales Centre for Public Policy are particularly helpful in highlighting areas where anti-poverty spending is at its most effective. Their findings set out a clear justification for prioritising anti-poverty spending in these areas in tough times, and the Welsh Government's next budget allocations should reflect these findings." (2023:40). The report has also been cited in Welsh Parliament debates by politicians (Plenary, 10/01/24). The Centre's recommendations on the Child Poverty Strategy were discussed during a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on the cost-of-living (15/1/24). It states: "Building on the recommendations of the Wales Centre for Public Policy, a co-constructed strategy with over 3,000 people with lived experience had been developed, which set out cross-government work that contributed to tackling poverty and inequality and which identified priority areas where there was need for a renewed focus to realise the policy ambitions of government and delivery partners." The WCPP's report, Poverty and Social Exclusion: a Way Forward, was referenced by Lynne Neagle MS in correspondence to the Health and Social Care Committee. It states that "Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) report 'Poverty and Social Exclusion a Way Forward', published in September 2022, sets out the conclusions of a Welsh Government commissioned review. This includes Mental Load and Mental Health - Addressing the emotional and psychological burden carried by people living in poverty and social exclusion through tackling stigma, (re)humanising 'the system' and treating people with the respect and dignity they deserve. These findings will be taken into consideration as we take forward our commitment to a whole government approach to tackling poverty and inequality and the delivery of Programme for Government commitments through a poverty lens, to meet current need and achieve longer term change." "In the shorter term, the findings of the WCPP report have informed initiatives such as the development of the Charter for the Delivery of Welsh Benefits which includes a set of principles that will underpin the delivery of a coherent and compassionate Welsh benefits system." 2. Net Zero - The Centre has produced a series of linked analyses on how to achieve a just transition in Wales, decarbonise the Welsh economy, develop the skills that Wales' workforce will need for a net zero future, and decarbonise Wales' housing stock. At the First Minister's request, we are providing analytical support for the Net-Zero 2035 Challenge Group on each of the themes the group is considering - for example the recently published how could Wales feed itself in 2035 outlined significant changes that could be made to farming and land use to achieve net-zero. This report has achieved some traction in the media, for instance being discussed on Radio 4 (29/07/23). Our research was quoted extensively in the Welsh Government's Net zero sector skills open consultation (2023). 3. Preventing youth homelessness - Our reports on preventing youth homelessness led to the decision to launch of a £4.8 million fund to develop and test new approaches to supporting young people at risk. We worked with world-leading experts from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and with Llamau and Welsh local authorities. The then Minister for Housing said: "The WCPP report tells me that there is a clear need to promote and encourage new and innovative options to both house and support young people. I am therefore pleased to announce £4.8m of funding to establish a brand-new innovation fund to develop suitable housing and support options for young people". Our research continues to be used by the Welsh Government. In the 2023 Consultation on the White Paper on Ending Homelessness in Wales it states that "Work undertaken by the Wales Centre for Public Policy highlights the importance of "Housing Stabilisation" for young people and the value of housing subsidies and monetary supports, as well as the use of Housing First for Youth initiatives, in order to assist young people into settled accommodation". 4. Loneliness and Social Isolation - Working closely with the Welsh Government's Advisory Group on Loneliness and Social Isolation from the start of the pandemic on this and other studies, our research on how communities and digital technologies were mobilised to enable social connection and mitigating loneliness informed the design of Welsh Government's Loneliness and Social Isolation fund. Specifically, we highlighted the value of small scale and flexible funding pots to enable community initiatives to respond dynamically to new demand for community services and trial and test innovations to meet emergent need. A representative from the Centre was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Campaign to End Loneliness Annual Conference to talk about the evidence review on loneliness inequalities. 5. Electoral reform and democratic health - Our research on electoral practices around the world informed the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill. It provided evidence on how Wales can make elections safe, more inclusive, and transparent for candidates and the electorate. Our recent evidence report on how Wales can develop and measure democratic health was cited in the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales: final report and will likely inform new legislation. In addition to these examples, our research is often used by elected representatives from all political parties and campaigning organisations such the Electoral Reform Society in relation to improving democratic health in Wales and Race Council Cymru on the Anti-racist Wales inquiry. |
| Description | Health Determinants Research Collaboration Rhondda Cynon Taf |
| Amount | £4,999,363 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NIHR159018 |
| Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 02/2029 |
| Description | Impact Innovations Fellowship |
| Amount | £208,164 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2024 |
| End | 01/2026 |
| Description | The International Public Policy Observatory 2 |
| Amount | £1,844,586 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/X008282/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 12/2024 |
| Description | ESRC What Works Innovation Fellowships - Lived Experience |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | There is increasing recognition that the social research community needs to make more progress in embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in its work, and the ESRC's Strategic Delivery Plan (2022) recognises this as a priority. One way of promoting EDI is through greater recognition of the value that lived experience (defined as 'personal knowledge about the world gained through direct, first-hand involvement' (Chandler & Munday, 2016) can bring to the research and policy process (The Young Foundation, 2021). Broader arguments for incorporating lived experience, include a democratic rationale which emphasises that people should be able to influence the decisions that affect their lives (Bell & Reed, 2021) and that people's direct experiential knowledge should be valued alongside other sources of expertise and insight (Beresford, 2003). Involving lived experience in the policy process can also improve policy decisions and outcomes, by ensuring that policy is better attuned to the needs and context of the people it seeks to impact (Smith-Merry, 2020), resulting in policy decisions which are more workable, relevant, and legitimate (Institute for Community Studies, 2020). Around half of the What Works Centres (WWCs) currently have stated aims and active practice in relation to incorporating lived experience into their work, but there is significant scope for identifying, innovating, and spreading effective models of incorporating lived experience into policy research and knowledge mobilisation work. The goal of this Fellowship will therefore be to strengthen the capabilities and skills of the whole What Works Network (WWN) in relation to incorporating lived experience evidence and/or expertise1, and by extension the capabilities and skills of the policy-makers and practitioners who work with the WWN. This will be achieved through a combination of original research exploring current practices, reviewing existing literature and guidance, knowledge mobilisation, experimentation and reflection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Hosting of the Fellowship, including line management and incorporation into the WCPP Tackling Inequalities programme of work. |
| Impact | Detailed position statement paper for internal use initially on the use of lived experience evidence and lived experience expertise. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | International Public Policy Observatory Phase 2 |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Wales Centre for Public Policy is a core member of the IPPO consortium. We are making key contributions to all four workstreams and have lead responsibility for facilitation engagement with policy makers in Wales. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Substantive contributions to evidence generation, synthesis and mobilisation on Covid recovery, cities and levelling up, inequalities and decarbonisation plus lead responsibility for engagement with Welsh policy makers. |
| Impact | Currently developing the work packages in consultation with senior policy makers in all four countries of the UK. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | PolicyWise |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Advice to Open University senior staff on establishing the PolicyWise initiative. Advice on foci for initial six policy learning workshops. Help sourcing experts to participate in learning events. Brokering contacts within the Welsh Government. Keynote presentation to a learning workshop. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Funding and organisation of the first six workshops. |
| Impact | Six learning workshops to facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers and policy makers and cross-jurisdictional learning among the four nations of the UK plus Ireland. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | What Works Network |
| Organisation | What Works Network |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We continue to play a full role in What Works Council meetings and other informal groups e.g., one on impact. Our Communications and Engagement Officer is in regular contact with communications colleagues in these centres to disseminate our work and share relevant work from those centres with WCPP staff members. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Sharing of practice, research and expertise |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 'WCPP is 10' - Hiraeth Podcast - 4 December 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | One hour podcast reflecting on the first 10 years' work of the WCPP. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Advisory group for implementation project - 29 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We convened a group of representatives from Welsh Government, Local Government, academia, and the What Works Network to support our work to synthesise literature on policy implementation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Beyond borders: Strengthening EU-UK Research Collaboration - 24 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | International conference featuring examples of effective research-policy engagement. Outcome - raised awareness of the WCPP model of demand-led evidence mobilisation and led to discussion of joint work with other organisations on the role of AI in evidence synthesis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK)/Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Diversity Research Group (MEAD) Race Equality research workshop - 10 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Provided advice to academic researchers on the policy relevance of their research and how to better connect academic work with policymaking audiences, supporting them to achieve impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) Policy roundtable - 6 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participation in a roundtable for the CAST Centre with policymakers/practitioners and academics to inform their research on transport decarbonisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) workshop on environmental activities - 20 July 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A workshop to discuss how waste disposal activities occur in Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Centre for Policy Futures workshop - 7 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on regional/devolved policy engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Connecting through culture as we age - Policy Advisory Group - 17 May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Member of the Connecting Through Culture as we age (CTC) project Policy Advisory Group. CTC is a three year UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge funded project exploring how participation in all forms of arts and culture, particularly those accessed digitally, can influence wellbeing and feelings of social connection. Our role was to connect this project with policy agendas to tackle loneliness in Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Democratic Health of Wales Roundtable |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Roundtable shared draft findings from a Welsh Government funded project examining Democratic Health in Wales. It examined what a healthy democracy could look like in Wales, how data could best be collected and reported to measure Wales' democratic health, and how can Wales' democratic health best be monitored. The audience consisted of policy-makers, academics, practitioners and interest groups. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Tackling Loneliness Evidence Group - 11 May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Formal meetings of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Tackling Loneliness Evidence Group. This is a group of UK Officials from various UK Government Departments and Agencies and research experts to discuss policy priorities, evidence and evidence gaps related to tackling loneliness. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Evidence ecosystem roundtable - 21 April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seminar to discuss proposals to develop a project to map the evidence ecosystem in Wales. Outcome- agreement to proceed with the development of the project in collaboration with other research centres. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Free School Meals task and finish group - 27 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | To discuss our work with the local authorities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | IFG annual conference - 23 January 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | National conference exploring the policy making challenges for the UK government in 2024 including 'How to Fix Public Services', reform of Whitehall. Outcome - Improved understanding of how the WCPP's work fits into the broader picture of public policy challenges in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | IPPO Winter School - 18 January 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended and presented at a Winter School for senior officials in the Northern Ireland civil service. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Key note speech and panel event at the Welsh Local Government Association annual conference - 13 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a key note speech at the conference and organised/ran a panel event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Knowledge Exchange event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 30 people attended an event organised to share learning from respective research projects between Cardiff University and Glasgow University (Prof Katherine Smith) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Launch event for ESRC-funded project examining the impact of What Works Centres |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A launch of a research project examining the impact of What Works Centres. Held in the Evidence Quarter in London, it bought together representatives from 11 What Works Centres to discuss what impact looks like across the Network, examine the different impact strategies and practices in use, and learn from each other on best practices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Looking Beyond Growth workshop - 15 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A workshop to share understanding of alternative approaches to economic growth, to inform research findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Masters Seminar: Research Applications Course - 29 February 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented a seminar on evidence-based policymaking and our Centre to postgraduate Cardiff University course on applications of research in practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Measuring Wellbeing Economy - meeting with researchers - 19 January 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Sharing thoughts on a project approach to inform its direction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | PSB learning event - community wellbeing and inequalities - 22 February 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Workshop and presentations related to community wellbeing and tackling poverty. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Panel at Plaid party conference - 3 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate in a panel discussion organised by NESTA about encouraging policy innovation in Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at the All Wales Heads of Children Services group - 15 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We presented the findings from our work on multi-agency working, and discussed the findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Loneliness Inequalities for Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Cost of Living Group - 27 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and engagement on WCPP loneliness inequalities research to the Welsh Local Government Association Cost-of-Living group. The aim was to share the research and influence views, opinions and policy/practice decisions on the interpersonal and structural causes of loneliness. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Loneliness Inequalities to Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Tackling Loneliness Officials Group - 31 October 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and engagement on WCPP loneliness inequalities research to a Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) convened group of cross-UK Government officials. The aim was to inform views, opinions and policy decisions on the interpersonal and structural causes of loneliness. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on Loneliness Inequality to University of Bath led Healthy Later Living network - 28 February 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented WCPP research on loneliness inequality to University of Bath led Health Later Living network. Aim was to share and engage on findings from the review about the interpersonal and structural causes of loneliness inequality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation on WCPP approach to policy engagement to Institute for Government Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Fellows - 29 February 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation for Institute for Government to AHRC Fellows on engaging with government. Aim of this talk was to share expertise and experience of policy engagement to support research leadership development of early career researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation on Welsh devolution and WCPP's work at the Newcastle Policy Academy Fellows Programme - 24 May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation delivered on Welsh devolution and the Centre's work at the Newcastle Policy Academy Fellows Programme. Presented via Zoom with Q and A session about our work afterwards. Research Apprentice attends each year to do this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation to Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Postdoctoral Development Programme - 5 December 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on WCPP approach to knowledge mobilisation to ESRC Postdoctoral development programme cohort. Aim to share expertise and learning on policy engagement to enhance research leadership capability among ESRC early career researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation to UK Climate Change Committee - 24 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presenting our work to the UK Climate Change Committee. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation to the Welsh Local Government Association SMT - 6 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to WLGA SMT on WCPP priorities and areas of work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | RCP Steering Group - 21 February 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | WCPP to gain insight into 1. how people found the workshop (30th Jan) and 2. Sharing a draft 'resource' that can be used by practitioners to test if this is useful to service users and hear any suggestions on ways to improve this. Impact - BCT planning to write letter to FM on why community action should be prioritised (Dormant Assets Scheme) and keen to situate that in the context of this work and our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Resourceful Communities Partnership meeting - 8 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Formal meetings of the full Resourceful Communities Partnership (RCP) and Governance Group throughout 2023 and 2024. The RCP is a national (Wales-wide) forum for public and third sector organisations that help develop and promote local activities and action that improves wellbeing in communities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Roundtable discussion on Equity in Tertiary Education - 28 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A roundtable discussion convened by WCPP with presentations on our research, research and expertise from other academics and practitioners, to inform Welsh Government / Commission for Tertiary Education and Research thinking on equity in tertiary education, as part of a wider programme of work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Roundtable discussion on Higher Education delivery models in Wales - 20 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participation in a research roundtable to inform work being carried by an external organisation on Higher Education delivery models in Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | SHAPE and place event: Tackling complex challenges in Wales and beyond - 26 May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seminar convened by the British Academy as part of series of events to explore the role of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) disciplines in place-based policy making and how they impact and are impacted by the localities in which they are taught and researched. Outcome - Identification of ways in which SHAPE disciplines contribute to place-based policy making agenda to feed into the Academy's outputs from the projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Series of engagements with Welsh Government officials around IPPO priorities - 2 May 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We convened groups of Welsh Government officials on IPPO themes to talk about priorities and how IPPO could support these. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Skills for the Just Transition Conference - 21 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented research from our work package to a conference of academics, policymakers and business in Scotland and elsewhere. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Tackling poverty stigma - in person workshop - 10 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This workshop brought together local and national policymakers, practitioners, academics and people with lived experience of poverty, to build collective insight into poverty stigma, how it emerges and how it affects people and the role of government and public services in preventing and addressing it. This was to inform the direction/generate ideas for further work WCPP could do to support public services to develop evidence-based approaches to tackling poverty stigma. Together with the follow up online event, the workshop has helped inform a programme of work we are now taking forward to support public services to tackle poverty stigma more effectively, and has created connections, energy and momentum among key partners to support that work. We are also aware of at least one local authority partner who has developed focused work on poverty stigma as a result of attending. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Tackling poverty stigma - online workshop - 5 December 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This was an online follow up to the in person workshop in Wrexham, to explore ideas for further work WCPP could do to support public services to develop evidence-based approaches to tackling poverty stigma. Along with the in person event, the online workshop has helped inform a programme of work we are now taking forward to support public services to tackle poverty stigma more effectively, and has created connections, energy and momentum among key partners to support that work. We are also aware of at least one local authority partner who has developed focused work on poverty stigma as a result of attending. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Universities Policy Engagement Network Annual Conference - 19 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | National conference on effective approaches to evidence use in policy making. Our contribution was to a panel discussion on evidence use in devolved governments as one of four key speakers. Outcome - Raised awareness of WCPP's work and shared challenges involved in evidence mobilisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Welsh Local Government Association Budget Seminar - 23 November 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Day-long seminar with local government leaders, chief executives and finance to analyse fiscal challenges facing local government and strategies for addressing them. Outcome - Strengthened links with local authority leaders and enhanced understanding of issues to include in IPPO/WCPP project on local government finance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Thinking Ahead workshop - 24 April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A workshop to discuss the future impact of our engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) annual conference - 19 June 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a panel on local, regional and devolved policy engagement at the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) annual conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Universities Policy Engagement Network Executive and full network meetings - 28 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Formal meetings of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) Executive and full network meetings. UPEN is a community of UK universities committed to increasing the impact of research on policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | WCPP Presenting our work and scoping to North Wales 2025 Senior Leadership Group - 1 December 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation to build a relationship with the 2025 Senior Leadership group so they could learn about WCPP, our work, and also inform our housing inequalities scoping. This has led to an established relationship with the group work could lead to further work (ongoing). We have also had follow-up conversations with group members interested to learn more about WCPP. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | WCPP roundtable on international responses to ageing population - 6 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | WCPP held a roundtable to bring together WG and academics to discuss learning from elsewhere that could be applied in Wales in relation to an ageing and declining population (as part of the wider project). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | WCPP-RCP workshop on improving multisector collaboration - 30 January 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop to contextualise evidence review findings and test what works to support multisector collaboration between public, third and community sectors. Positive feedback on the workshop and interest from other orgs in working with us on this in the future e.g. Future Gens Office. We also used the workshop as an opportunity to find out what WCPP could do next that would be practically useful in this area. Led to us developing a resource that can be applied in different contexts. Also allowed us to develop a stream of work for the next phase of the project (developing a toolkit). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Wales Centre for Public Policy 10th anniversary |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An event held at the Welsh Parliament to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Wales Centre for Public Policy. Attendees heard speeches from Mark Drakeford FM, Wendy Larner (Cardiff University VC), Andrew Morgan (Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)), and James Canton (ESRC). They discussed the role of evidence and the part the Centre plays in Welsh policy-making. We also launched our work with the WLGA to help the public sector reach net zero. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Wales Net Zero 2035 challenge group meeting - 8 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Regular participation in the monthly meeting of the group to share the work of WCPP and learn from and relay any points from the Group back to the WCPP team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Wales productivity forum - 11 October 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Sharing of work to inform the research of the group, which in turn aims to inform policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Welsh Local Government Association Land Use task and finish group - 4 October 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | To share our work with the task and finish group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | What Works Network Local Government Working Group - 25 September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Working group of What Works Centre representatives to share expertise and experience in engaging with local government. Discuss common and different approaches and opportunities and share good practice, including toolkits and training. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | What Works anniversary conference - 17 April 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | National conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the What Works network. The event included reflections from the Minister, the Permanent Secretary and Heads of What Works Centres on the achievements and future challenges for the network. We provided an exhibition featuring our work. Outcome - raised awareness of What Works Centres including the WCPP. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on Multi-agency working in Cwm Taf Morgannwg - 7 March 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We convened a workshop to discuss challenges to multi-agency working to support children and young people in Cwm Taf Morgannwg; and potential solutions to the same. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |