Both governmental and non-governmental organisations sometimes struggle to engage with academia and find that within their own sectors vastly different attitudes exist around what counts as evidence and what it is meant to be used for.
Our panel share some of the newest ideas to emerge around these challenges and opportunities, reflecting on what steps can be taken to enhance the use of evidence to support learning and engage in policy and practice.
- Ruth Mayne is Oxfam’s Senior Researcher on Influencing and its Effectiveness. She has an interdisciplinary background and a long experience working as a researcher, policy advisor and practitioner on humanitarian, development and environmental issues.
- Jude Fransman is a research fellow at the Open University and co-convenor of the Rethinking Research Collaborative. Her research focuses on the politics of knowledge mobilisation for international development.
- Elena Schmidt is the Director of programme development, evidence and research at Sightsavers. She has over 20 years’ experience in public health and development at the national and international levels, including her work for the World Health Organisation and the UK Department for International Development.
The Evidence Policy and Practice Series, convened by IDS, aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas and learning on the interactions between knowledge and policy and practice towards development. An international, multi-disciplinary and cross-sector community of researchers, activists, public officials and practitioners engage with these issues through a series of short courses, seminars, online events, blogs, interviews, multi-media and publications.
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