Vivienne Benson is the Communications and Impact Manager in the Knowledge, Impact and Policy Cluster. She leads the communications for a portfolio of projects and programmes and manages a team of research communications and impact specialists. She has worked on a range of issues within the sector including health and nutrition, child labour and gender equality with a focus on translating evidence and knowledge into accessible and engaging communications to achieve sustainable impact.
The Well-being, Ecology, Gender and cOmmunity – Innovation Training Network (WEGO-ITN) is the first international feminist political ecology research network of its kind, WEGO-ITN aspires to tackle socioecological challenges linked to policy agendas. The goal of WEGO-ITN is to provide research...
SSHAP (the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform) focuses on the social dimensions of emergency responses related to health, conflict, or the environment by exploring the political economy, community engagement and cultural logics, social difference, and vulnerabilities of those...
Action on Children’s Harmful Work in African Agriculture (ACHA) is a seven-year research programme supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) that started in January 2020. The aim of the programme is to build evidence on: the forms, drivers, and experiences of...
This project is led by the Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway) in collaboration with IDS and funded by NorGlobal. IDS Research fellow Dr Marjoke Oosterom leads the case study in Zimbabwe and the research uptake strategy. The project focuses on how the ‘born free’ generation of youth perceives...
At IDS, we believe that evidence-based research plays a vital role in bringing about a more equitable and sustainable world. And to achieve this, we are committed to communicating research beyond academic audiences and journal articles. However, we are very aware of the responsibility we...
15 February 2022
Stories are an intrinsic part of how we raise awareness, generate understanding and build engagement with the universal development challenges and our work to help those marginalised, living in poverty or with injustice globally. This makes the way we ‘tell’ stories about impact vital as a...
27 October 2021
29 April 2019
With food poverty, obesity and diabetes on the rise, today of all days, World Food Day, reminds us that food systems are not fit for purpose. Watch interviews with UK farmers and hear what they think we need to do change this picture.
16 October 2017
ESRC-DFID Research Impact
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 is to ‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’. However, inadequate energy supply continues to hinder social and economic development in Nepal. Despite a wealth of renewable energy potential – particularly with...
20 December 2019
Since the discovery of oil five years ago in Northern Kenya, explorations have spread to more than 30 drilling and testing sites. This has brought foreign investment, and in turn, new work opportunities, corporate social investment in schools and health clinics, and options for personal...
1 April 2018
This collection of ESRC-DFID-funded research identifies critical elements that are important to address if women’s and girls’ lives are to change for the better. The research looks at the mobility constraints experienced by girls and how a lack of access to means of transport hampers their...
1 March 2018
Parallel to the mobile phone revolution in Africa is the lesser talked about motorbike boom. Motorbike taxis have changed the face of transport and provided employment opportunities, particularly in rural parts, in many African countries.
1 November 2017
Progress towards the UN global goal to ‘eliminate child labour in all its forms by 2025’ will not be made in countries with a significant child labour problem unless attention is focused on where the most dangerous forms exist – small businesses in the informal sector. This is based on...
10 November 2021
Meet the new Social Science Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) fellows from East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and Asia. The fellows will have the benefit of working closely with leading thinkers and practitioners from within the SSHAP partnership. SSHAP is delighted to launch its...
30 April 2021
It is essential that we test new and innovative ways to reach people with disabilities in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. On World Creativity and Innovation Day, we are highlighting how Inclusive Futures is trialling new approaches to improve the lives of people with...
21 April 2021
This week research funders will be urged to take a new approach to engaging evidence with policy that values collaborations and learning. As the world continues to be gripped by a pandemic that has prompted renewed political commitment to “following the science” a report from the Impact...
23 February 2021
