Improving the impact of development research through better research communication and uptake
This is the resource page for the workshop that took place in London on November 29 and 30, 2010 entitled Improving the impact of development research through better research communication and uptake. The communication and uptake of research is a messy business for which there is no clear formula; what is clear is that routes to impact need to be improved. Without a greater focus on getting research into use, that potential for improving lives through research and innovation will not be fully realised. Research funders have a role to play in encouraging maximum impact from the research they fund, particularly as funding gets tighter. The workshop brought together funders of development research, researchers and practitioners with the aim to:
- develop a common understanding of the landscape of funding and activities in research communication and uptake
- identify opportunities for greater coordination and collaboration
- share innovative thinking on effective ways to get research into use
- investigate options for a more systematic opportunity to share information and coordinate activities
The documents and resources relating to the workshop can be found below.
Final Workshop Report:
The Final Report from the workshop, including summaries of the written outputs.
Workshop Blogs:
How Research Feeds into Parliaments Across the World,
How to Survive and Thrive in the Knowledge Pond,
Workshop Presentations:
Workshop Videos:
Ananya Raihan (Development Research Network) introduces the Bangladesh Online Research Network a research portal containing 81 research categories.
Susanna Thorp talks about the work of WREN Media challenges for the future, and building a network of journalists in the Global South.
Ann Waters-Bayer (ETC-Ecoculture) talks about the dangers of placing local knowledge and evidence at two different ends of the spectrum. Local knowledge and evidence not seperate entities.
Eliya Zulu from the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) talks about the challenges of communicating development research.
Musawe Sinebare from the National Research Institute describes the challenges to research communication in Papua New Guinea.
Celia Reyes from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies refects on the challenges researchers face in communication.
Nalaka Gunuwardene from TVE Asia Pacific describes how the media landscape has been changing substantially in recent years in understanding the media and how to engage with it.
Key Background Documents:
- Improving the impact of development research through better research communications and uptake. Background paper for the AusAID, DFID and UKCDS funded workshop: London, November 29th and 30th 2010.
- Research communication: insights from practice, A working paper of the Research Communication Strategy Group, Edited by Isabel Carter and Kurt Paulus, 2010
Other Documents:
- Learning lessons on research uptake and use: Donor review on research communication, B. Adolph, F.J. Proctor, N. van der Gaag, J. Davies and L. Carlile (2009), Triple Line Consulting Ltd, UK. Report prepared for UK DFID
- Learning lessons on research uptake and use: A review of DFID’s research communication programmes (Part 1), Proctor, F; , Adolph, B; Carlile, L; Davies, J; van der Gaag, N and Myers, M with contributions from Atampugre, N (2009), Triple Line Consulting Ltd, UK. Report prepared for UK DFID
- Learning lessons on research uptake and use: A review of DFID’s research communication programmes (Part 2), Proctor, F; Adolph; B, Atampugre, N; Carlile, L; Davies, J;
van der Gaag, N and Myers, M (2009), Triple Line Consulting Ltd, UK. Report prepared for UK DFID - Learning lessons on research communication and uptake. A review of DFID’s Research and Evidence Division’s human development (health and education) and agriculture portfolios and their contribution to the 30% policy, Part 1 and Part 2, B. Adolph, S. Herbert-Jones, F.J. Proctor, E. Raven, and M. Myers (2010), Triple Line Consulting Ltd UK. Report prepared for UK DFID
- Developing a strategy for knowledge translation and brokering in public policymaking, This paper draws on discussions at the Knowledge Translation and Brokering workshop held in Montreal, Canada, October 20th 2010
- Between Ourselves Workshop: report from the second meeting of the I-K-Mediary Group, C. Fisher & Y. Kunaratanam (eds) (2008) Between Ourselves Workshop: report from the second meeting of the I-K-Mediary Group, July 2008, Centurion, South Africa
- Seeking Surprise: rethinking monitoring for collective learning in rural resource management, I. Guijt (2008) PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-8504-860-2
- Intermediary understanding, impact and action: Report from the third I-K-Mediary workshop, Y. Kunarataram & C. Fisher (eds) (2009), IDS, Brighton, UK
