Institute of Development Studies

Knowledge brokering: putting to use what we know

15 September 2010 

Research knowledge often falls short of its potential to improve the lives of people living in poverty and remains largely unused outside of academic communities. Most decision-making and action in policy and practice would benefit from a broader understanding and evidence of what has worked in similar contexts.

Yet turning research knowledge into action is complex, political and iterative. While knowledge matters, its influence depends on its origination, its focus country or issue, and whether it comes from global or local sources. How research is contextualised and the messages used to share its findings all affect people and influence their actions.

Knowledge brokers and intermediaries in evidence-based decision-making

Knowledge brokers and intermediaries are central to the promotion and uptake of evidence-based decision-making. They generate, interpret, organise and communicate research-based information from diverse perspectives and harness ICTs to improve access to knowledge. More than just providing information access, these efforts aim to bridge information gaps, make connections, and facilitate information exchanges among different people.

What can we learn from these unique actors? A new platform is launched to help find out

The Knowledge Brokers' Forum is a new collaborative space, launched today, to promote knowledge sharing and dissemination on knowledge brokering and the role of intermediaries in international development. It aims to foster a global community of peers from a diversity of sectors and practices, consolidate information and resources on intermediaries and help promote experiences and refine practices in knowledge brokering and knowledge translation.

Its long-term goals is to identify good practice, tools and techniques in knowledge brokering that can support existing players and newcomers to the field, with the hope to harvest this material to produce a toolkit in 2012. It is managed by the I-K-Mediary Network, in which IDS Knowledge Services play an important supporting role, with funding support from Research Matters and the DFID-funded Mobilising Knowledge for Development (MK4D) programme at IDS.

Brokering, intermediation or translation: what's the difference?

Regular themed discussions will be hosted on the new platform, the first of which will be on understanding knowledge brokering and intermediary concepts on 4th October. You can join the discussion on the Knowledge Brokers' Forum website, which also includes a variety of interactive and collaborative tools to support users to share information and experiences, including a blog and discussion forum.