From publication to partnership: what Sport England has learned since publishing its Areas of Research Interest

Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) are increasingly used across government and arm’s-length bodies to articulate priority evidence needs and strengthen relationships between policymakers, researchers and practitioners. Since launching our ARIs in August 2025, we’ve received 190 responses from across the research and policy system, reinforcing the value of ARIs and reflecting a shared ambition to build a more physically active nation through evidence-led action. But what happens after ARIs are published? And how is collaboration is shaping what we do next?

What are Areas of Research Interest – and why do they matter?

By making priorities clearer, ARIs help strengthen the bridge between researchers, policymakers, practitioners and funders, and support more meaningful engagement and knowledge exchange.

ARIs set out the key questions where evidence would most usefully inform policy and decision-making. They are an invitation to work with us, challenge us and co-create solutions. By making priorities clearer, ARIs help strengthen the bridge between researchers, policymakers, practitioners and funders, and support more meaningful engagement and knowledge exchange.

At Sport England, our ARIs focus on increasing participation in sport and physical activity, tackling inequalities, and ensuring our work delivers social, environmental and economic value. From the outset, they were designed to be open and iterative, shaped by discussion, relationships and shared learning.

What happened when we published our ARIs?

What stood out immediately was the breadth of interest across all 20 ARIs, reflecting the wide range of disciplines contributing to sport and physical activity policy.

Since August, we have received almost 200 responses from researchers and practitioners interested in joining our ARI network, sharing research, requesting conversations and offering collaboration. What stood out immediately was the breadth of interest across all 20 ARIs, reflecting the wide range of disciplines contributing to sport and physical activity policy.

Engagement as a two-way process

Effective policy engagement is as much about trust and relationships as it is about evidence itself.

Since publication, our focus has been on active engagement. Alongside an online engagement form, we’ve promoted the ARIs through research networks and social media, offered short drop-in calls, and arranged in-person visits with those wanting more in-depth conversations about research priorities and opportunities.

We’ve met with researchers from universities including Bristol, Brunel, Durham, Leeds Beckett, Liverpool, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam, alongside many others working across sport and physical activity. These conversations have helped surface relevant research, build relationships and explore different ways evidence can be generated, translated and used.

They’ve also required openness on our part: being transparent about uncertainty, timelines and constraints, and listening to what researchers and practitioners need for engagement to be meaningful. This has reinforced that effective policy engagement is as much about trust and relationships as it is about evidence itself.

Collaboration and alignment across the system

Policy engagement is most effective when it connects existing efforts rather than creating parallel processes.

Another important learning has been the value of using ARIs as a convening tool, both internally and externally.

Internally, we’ve worked closely with colleagues leading on environmental sustainability to ensure the ARIs better reflect evidence needs in this growing policy area. Because an ARI process was already in place, we were able to quickly publish a targeted call for evidence on the effects of climate change on people, places and the sport and physical activity sector, generating new evidence and connections.

We also used the ARI network to promote a targeted call for evidence on digital inclusion, widening its reach to academics, industry and others with relevant expertise.

Externally, partners such as the Youth Sport Trust have expressed interest in aligning on shared priorities around children and young people, and we are working with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) on aligning workforce-related evidence needs. We’ve also had early conversations with organisations such as Movember and Sport Scotland, both of whom have indicated interest in collaborating on shared evidence priorities.

Engagement with research funders has been another encouraging development. We’ve met with funders to better align future funding calls with sport and physical activity evidence needs. We’ve had workshops and discussions with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Evaluation Task Force to strengthen links with the What Works network.

Taken together, this work reflects UPEN’s core principle that collaboration makes the whole system stronger, and that policy engagement is most effective when it connects existing efforts rather than creating parallel processes.

Exploring governance

Policy engagement infrastructure matters. ARIs do not sit outside organisational systems; they interact with funding cycles, decision-making processes and accountability structures.

One area that has required more attention than anticipated is governance. The volume and diversity of engagement raised important questions: How should ARIs be updated? Who should shape their evolution? and how do we ensure transparency and fairness in the use of evidence?

Following discussions with expert stakeholders, we’ve concluded that clear governance is essential if ARIs are to remain credible and useful. We are now working with an external supplier to develop awareness of best practice and development of guiding principles for effective ARI governance, to help establish structures that reflect the views of researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

This has been a useful reminder that policy engagement infrastructure matters. ARIs do not sit outside organisational systems; they interact with funding cycles, decision-making processes and accountability structures, all of which need to be acknowledged.

From evidence submission to evidence use

Formalising evidence management, to enable a more rapid response to live policy questions, is the next step.

Another key learning relates to evidence management. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who has shared research and insights with us. However, the volume and diversity of submissions have highlighted the need for a more formal approach to triage and synthesis.

We’re now working with Jonathan Breckon, from Breckon Consulting, to develop an evidence triage framework and process. This will help assess the quality and relevance of evidence, position new insights alongside our existing evidence base, and support sharing research in formats that are genuinely usable for policymakers.

Alongside this, we’re exploring how to build skills, tools and make responsible use of AI to support more rapid synthesis and translation of evidence in response to live policy questions – an area where many researchers and other government departments have valuable experience to share.

Overall reflections for policy engagement practice

Looking back, a few reflections stand out:

• Publishing ARIs is just the start. The real value comes from sustained engagement, relationships and shared learning.
• Clarity and openness build trust. Being transparent on where we are at, and explicit about how evidence will and won’t be used supports constructive engagement.
• Collaboration needs structure. Governance and evidence processes are not administrative details; they are central to credible policy engagement.

As we move into the next phase of this work, we’re keen to continue learning. If you’d like to discuss your research or share learning on any of the topics raised, we’d love to hear from you. You can book a 15-minute drop-in call here.

To join the Sport England ARI network or share evidence, visit Areas of Research Interest | Sport England. We’ll be sharing further updates and opportunities to get involved later in the year.