Specialist short course

Course objective

This online short course will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to shape policy and practice with evidence more effectively.

Relevance to the policy landscape

Influencing practitioners with evidence and contributing to policy requires an explicit focus on power analysis and politics in highly complex environments.

This policy course equips participants with the concepts, skills and tools required to design achievable influencing plans, as well as to produce, review and communicate research effectively and to enhance your capacity to shape policy and practice in an international development setting.

Who is this course suitable for?

You will join an international cohort of policy and evidence innovators from governments, development agencies, charities, social enterprises and research organisations, to share learning and gain new insights into improving policy and practice through better use of evidence.

If you have any queries about if this course is right for you, please contact our dedicated short courses team at [email protected]

Who has attended this course previously?

This online course attracts individuals leading policy and research in their organisations or programmes, seeking to enhance their evidence literacy and policy engagement capacity to help them become more effective advocates for social change.

Past Shaping Policy with Evidence course participants include:

• Advocacy Unit, African Population and Health Research Centre
• Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, International Rice Research Institute
• Manager, Doha International Family Institute, Qatar Foundation
• Communications Advisor, Christian Aid
• Programme Manager, International Development Law Organisation
• Members of the UNICEF China Social Policy team
• Programme Coordinator, CGIAR GENDER Platform
• Researcher, School for Development Studies of the University of Cape Coast
• Researcher, BIGD – Bangladesh Institute of Global Development
• Programme Officer, GIZ -Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
• Programme Officer at IDRC
• Programme Officer, UNU-WIDER

Why study this course at IDS?

• The course director James Georgalakis is the Director of Evidence and Impact at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and has helped shape IDS’ approach to research communications, strengthening evidence use and evaluating research impact. Currently enrolled at the University of Bath as a Doctoral Candidate in Policy Research and Practice, his research focuses on the role of networks and relationships in the mobilisation of research knowledge for development.
• Our course convenors are uniquely placed to bridge policy theory and practice – and have between them decades of experience of designing and delivering with partners all over the world: Evidence Impact Evaluations, evidence reviews, synthesis reports, research communications, digital knowledge exchange and policy engagement strategies.
• The course features Dr Rhona Mijumbi, Head of the Policy Unit at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme (MLW) and Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). Previously, Rhona headed the Centre for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES) working for over a decade championing the evidence-to-policy field in Africa. Working with the World Health Organization and other partners, she is behind the pilot and scale-up of several science-to-policy units in government departments in Africa, the Americas including Canada and Brazil, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
• You will be exposed to knowledge, practices and theories spanning sectors and geographies. To help keep the conversation going, you will be connected to your peers via a dedicated online channel throughout the course.
• Your 2024 cohort will join IDS’ international short course alumni network that currently spans 132 countries.

NEW Organisational Training Package

Our all-new organisational training package invites group bookings, at a discounted rate, that include tailored support for your project or institutional strategy.

Organisational learners will enjoy the full six-week online course, followed by an IDS-led tailored workshop for their project or institution that will explore how they can best apply the policy concepts and tools to their own work.

This package is based on IDS’ highly acclaimed bespoke facilitated learning events for organisational effectiveness and comes at no extra cost.

To find out more about organisational policy training, please email [email protected].

Participant numbers

Approximately 30 participants per course.

Course impact for participants

The power and evidence analysis in this policy course has enabled previous participants to:

• Re-evaluate their organisation’s or programme’s use of evidence and theories of change, creating stronger frameworks for social change.
• Adapt to fast-changing policy demands and deploy new tools for understanding how change happens in a particular international development context.
• Systematically identify and appraise policy relevant evidence.
• Frame research for policy and practice and therefore develop compelling evidence informed policy offers.
• Developing the skills to take complex research information and communicate this clearly and effectively to non-specialist audiences.

Who is the course delivered by?

The course is led by the IDS Knowledge, Impact and Policy Cluster, which has pioneered approaches to linking up the supply of inclusive research with the demand for evidence from governments, multilaterals and development agencies.

These policy experts have successfully mobilised knowledge in response to urgent international crises, including Covid-19, and their impressive credentials include providing tailored policy and research analysis – as well as and accompanied learning services – to governments, INGOS, think tanks, universities and research funders.

How you will learn on this course

This policy course combines live seminars held by international guest speakers, live learning webinars as well as pre-recorded lectures, small peer learning groups and case study work.

You will be assigned a course facilitator and a small study group in order to maximise the opportunity to learn from your peers.

You will meet virtually every Tuesday and are invited to attend special sessions on Thursdays. Each week there is a self-directed learning assignment which you will share in small study groups.

The course culminates in your presentations of an influencing strategy from case study groups, to demonstrate how you have applied the learning.

Course Director:

James Georgalakis, IDS Director of Communications and Impact