There is widespread belief that evidence use in policy making leads to more effective outcomes. However, various challenges associated with evidence-based policy making (EBPM) have been identified for both researchers and policy makers. There has been a call for research to be better designed and contextualised to respond to the challenge of a lack of policy-relevant research for policymakers as well as consideration given to the capability and motivation of policymakers to engage with evidence from research. Responding to these challenges has shifted attention to the role of knowledge brokering organisations (KBOs) and other intermediaries such as the Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) that operate in the space between research and policy.
The purpose of this research project is to explain the role that knowledge brokering organisations play in connecting and amplifying the voices of academic experts in the policy process, and to understand academic experts’ experience of working with a KBO such as WCPP to mobilise evidence and engage with policy. We seek to understand academic experts’ motivations for policy engagement, their experience of working with WCPP, and their perceptions of the effect this kind of engagement has on their access to or impact on national and local policymakers and public services in Wales, as well as the effect on their subsequent research questions and academic practice. To do this, we are conducting a short survey and semi-structured interviews, inviting all academic experts WCPP has engaged with since 2017 to participate. We will use our findings to contribute the academic literature on academic-policy engagement and inform our own practice of working with academic experts to respond to the evidence needs of Welsh Government and public services across Wales within the Centre.