The Think Tank Initiative’s (TTI) Policy Engagement and Communications (PEC) Programme aims to support think tanks to produce, synthesize and communicate research in ways that will strengthen their impact.

About the PEC Programme

The PEC programme provides over 40 participating think tanks in Africa, Latin America and Asia with customized capacity development through mentorship and peer-exchange to better:

• Understand policy processes in specific contexts – to become more knowledgeable and integrated into the policymaking process and apparatus.
• Engage in knowledge brokering – to ensure their work is both credible and useful to their intended audiences and to help build coalitions and relationships with key networks.
• Contribute to the public debate – to improve how they connect with and influence policy actors.
• Synthesize and package knowledge and evidence – to express their research findings into relevant and digestible outputs for varying audiences and media outlets.

Policy engagement and communications have been identified as key precursors to change, helping think tanks strengthen their position within public policy debates.

Policy engagement

To be effective, think tanks need to engage with policy actors as part of the  the decision-making process. The strength of an institution’s relationships and its capacity to build new linkages are therefore vital to its success. The PEC programme supports think thanks to engage with a range of stakeholders including the media, funders, civil society groups, citizens and policy-makers

Communications

Think tanks should be able to synthesize, package and amplify their information appropriately to a variety of different audiences, whilst continuously reviewing their approach and making changes when required. Developing in-house capacity for communications, advocacy and outreach (e.g. by using social media) is increasingly important for think tanks to establish and maintain their credibility and relevance. The PEC programme supports think tanks to make informed decisions about approaches that are fit-for-purpose in their own contexts.

Stay informed

Research to Action (R2A) has been chosen to showcase the PEC programme, to keep people informed of the latest dialogue and learning. To get updates from us and be part of the discussion sign-up to RSS updates or email updates. You can also follow our progress via twitter using the following hashtag #ttipec