Bringing communities closer to evidence-based policymaking

In the last decades, we’ve seen an increase in the use of evidence to inform policymaking, bringing the academic community and policymakers closer.  

However, communities remain relatively far from policymaking and government, particularly when it comes to generating and mobilising evidence. This is a missed opportunity considering the knowledge held by communities on the issues close to them. 

To strengthen communities’ role in policymaking, it is necessary to understand what is known and what is working. The Young Foundation, as part of UPEN, undertook a review of existing evidence on community participation in evidence-informed policymaking, identifying gaps and opportunities to test and learn from new approaches.  

We found that existing evidence largely focuses on one-off practices and underpinning principles, with limited attention paid to the specific approaches or tools employed or their relationship to outcomes. As a result, it is difficult to identify and replicate effective approaches or build a robust evidence base for increased community participation. 

There is some evidence on the skills and capacity required to support the meaningful participation of communities, with different stakeholder groups requiring different skills to play their part. While communities need understanding of policymaking processes and strategic issues, policymakers require relational skills to bring people to the table. Academic institutions have played an intermediary role as knowledge translators and mobilisers. These skills are not broadly proliferated, pointing to an opportunity to test new approaches to capacity building and transfer.  

Beyond skills, there is a need for institutional infrastructure to support longer-term, meaningful participation, with current processes relying on a ‘token’ person to move things forward, regardless of institutional challenges. Successful participation requires buy-in and understanding of community participation, alongside practical mechanisms to support accessible, consistent channels for community contribution. In order to successfully embed approaches to participation, there needs to be more testing and learning to find what works, particularly with policymaking institutions at different levels. 

The Young Foundation, supported by UPEN, will be designing and delivering collaborative pilots through 2026-27, tackling questions of capacity, capabilities and infrastructure.  We welcome the ideas and insights of others in moving the field forward.  

To learn more about upcoming pilots or collaborate with us, get in touch.