Research uptake

DFID learning from experience

Rachel Hinton

Research and Evidence Division (RED)

Department for International Development

October 2014 - UNICEF Innocenti Meeting

Thanks for contributions from:

Caine Rolleston, Young Lives

Zaza Curran, GCSD team, RED DFID

Laura Koch, Evidence in Action team, DFID

Outline

1. DFID’s research uptake strategy – Evidence into Action team

2. Stakeholder engagement - Young Lives Programme

3. Capacity building - Harvard’s Evidence for Policy Design

4. Communicating - Global Girls Research initiative

2

The justified sinner, flikr

DFID’sevidence in action team provide tools to help RED-funded programmes to maximise their impact

4

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

1. Mapping stakeholders

2. Tailor research design to meet user needs

3. Interactive discussion of research

BEST PRACTICE: YOUNG LIVESCOHERENCE AND RELEVANCE – ADVANTAGE OF LONGITUDINAL STUDY

- Consultation with stakeholders

- Establishment of long term partnerships

COHERENT

AND

RELEVANT

BODY OF

RESEARCH

USED IN

PRACTICEREVIEW

Existing

research &

knowledge

UNDERSTAND

- Policy context

- Evidence gaps

DEFINE

- Research

questions

- Design

- Analysis

.

.

.

EDUCATION RESEARCH IN VIETNAM

Sustained

Influence

Continued

Engagement

Consultation

• Design instruments in consultation with technical arm

of MoET (VNIES) plus sector stakeholders

• Finalise instruments with technical working group

• Collect data through Government Statistical Office

(GSO) and in partnership with local education (DOET)

and statistical offices (PSO)

• Review gaps in existing data/literature

• Consult Ministry of Education, World Bank, DFID, BTC,

UNICEF, key INGOs on policy issues to be addressed

• Combine government and project policy priorities

• Establish technical working group

• Disseminate initial findings to stakeholder group

• Produce research & policy outputs on agreed priorities

• Make data publicly available to Vietnamese and

international researchers

• Conduct policy engagement events

• Focus debate and inform policy priorities

CAPACITY BUILDING

1. Assess existing capacity internally and externally

2. Design and implement capacity building strategy

1. Development of the African Evidence Network - a sustainable and engaging community for policy makers and practitioners to discuss and share lessons on evidence use

2. Focusing on the high level decision making process to improve evidence use by Cabinet Ministers

3. Using innovative online training methods to improve the skills of individuals to make evidence informed decisions

4. Developing an adapted toolkit which enables civil servants to take a strategic overview of the evidence base

5. Establishing open policy dialogues between senior civil servants to promote the use of evidence in decision making

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Building capacity to use research evidence (Bcure)

Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence (BCURE): Data and Evidence for Smart Policy Design

A program to build capacity of policy makers and practitioners to access, appraise and use rigorous data

and research evidence

Overview of Programme Activities

• Rigorous assessment to develop a better understanding of the barriers to use of evidence and capacity-building needs

Assessment

• Online modules to train policy makers in how to apply data and evidence to inform policy decisions

Training

• Proof-of-concept projects to demonstrate the practical value of data and evidence for policy decisions through hands-on capacity building

Pilot projects

• Workshops on specific policy areas to discuss existing evidence and build consensus for reform

Policy Dialogues

COMMUNICATING

1. Design initial communication strategy

2. Rigorous synthesis

3. Package and disseminate emerging results

11,212 institutions had access to 32,500 online journals

and there were around 10 million downloads of journal articles

Assessing the strength of evidence

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Rigorous synthesis

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R4D and Open Access policy

• R4D gets 150,000 visits &100,000 downloads per month.

• Usage has increased by over 40% since March 2012 (when improved web metrics established a new baseline).

• 41% of visitors to R4D access it from a Southern country, 11% from DAC Least Developed and Low Income Countries.

• Open access policy in advance of other Government departments.

Accessible findings

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• Greater emphasis on understanding the political context – especially reforms that can be researched at scale.

• Assess existing capacity internally and externally and the barriers to policy reform.

• Imperative of early stakeholder engagement to build confidence and local ownership of the research as well as sustainability beyond one political regime.

• Inclusive capacity building will drive change.

• Communication of results in a range of formats, conferences and capitalising on social media enables debate and media attention that can catalyse policy action.

Key Research Outreach messages