Place-based academic-policy engagement is becoming increasingly important as devolution accelerates, alongside the need for local and strategic authorities to access and apply evidence in policymaking.
Universities have the potential to play a larger role, but support, infrastructure, and engagement remain inconsistent and underdeveloped. Local and strategic authorities face significant resourcing constraints.
Our understanding of what good academic-policy engagement looks like has advanced more quickly than the structural and financial conditions required to support this work.
This review synthesises evidence on place-based academic-policy engagement in order to inform UPEN’s work on strengthening academic-policy engagement across the UK. It finds that an ecosystem approach is needed to systematically embed academic-policy engagement. This will require universities, policy organisations and funders to work together to strengthen strategic coordination, enabling infrastructure, capacity-building, diverse approaches, shared ownership, and improved recognition.
Read the whole review to learn more about:
- Why place matters to academic-policy engagement
- The initiatives already supporting academic-policy engagement in place
- The system dynamics currently at play
- UPEN’s key recommendations
and more.
Related resources
Leeds City Council Areas of Research Interest Evaluation
Report: A review of ‘Areas of Research Interest’ (ARIs) as a mechanism for research-policy engagement
