The Pathway to Impact

• 1. The Pathway to Impact
  Professor Paul van Gardingen
  -Strategic Advisor on Impact to the ESRC-DFID Joint Research Scheme on International Development
  -Director Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation Programme
  -UNESCO Chair in International DevelopmentThe University of Edinburgh
  

2. Telling the story
Raw data and primary analysis rarely delivers impact.
3. Research Excellence
4. Our Starting Point
Research Excellence
5. Excellent Research
6. Building impact involves a journey
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. The Pathway(s) to Impact
Research projects need to deliver:Research Excellenceand a credible pathway toDevelopment Impact
12. 4 Ws
Who
How
What
When
13. Who?
Who is (or will be) asking for your research?
Understand demand.
Who are your trying to influence?
Who will use your research?
Think about non-academic beneficiaries.
Who will you need to work with to build non-academic impact?
Knowledge brokers
Change enablers
Champions for change
14. How?
How will people benefit from using your research?
How will you know that your research has helped to support change?
e.g. reducing poverty?
15. What?
What do you need to do to support your intended beneficiaries?
What might change as a result of your research?
what does success look like.
What should your impact process and products look like?
16. When?
When are the best times to engage with beneficiaries, champions for change and change enablers?
When (realistically) do you expect to see change?
Impact sometimes requires the right opportunities:
right person (people), in the right place and the right time.
17. Sometimes, just try again!
18. The Pathway(s) to Impact
There may be more than one pathway to impact
19. Impact is all about changing lives
20. Capacity Building
21. What is Impact?
A REF view
Several examples of pathways from research to impact are provided in a separate document. These illustrate different points along the pathways that would be considered impacts as opposed to inputs. (For example, providing advice to a policy committee is considered an input. A change to government policy, influenced by that advice, is considered an interim impact.)
22. What is impact?
Impact happens when peoples lives are changed.
Policy has impact when it is implemented and enforced
Funders may hold views on impact that differ in subtle ways from what REF currently asks for.
How do we value and describe impact outside the UK?
RCUK impact documentation currently emphasises impact on the UK and especially the UK economy.
23. Oops!
What about unwanted impact?
The climate change research community has generated excellent researchers, but much of the policy and business community dont want to know or act.
What about completely unexpected and unplanned impact?
Be prepared to adapt and take the opportunities when they occur.
24. How can we help you?
ESRC-DFID and ESPA are developing a common Impact Framework to help researchers:
Understand non-academic impact (Conceptualise)
Build impact (Getting research into use)Reaching large numbers of people to make aSignificant difference in their lives)
Communicating impact (Telling the story)
http://www.espa.ac.uk
25. A Pathway to Impact
Designing research for impact.
Start with the right question!
What are the evidence challenges?
Involve beneficiaries and research users in the design phase.
Implementing research for impact
Involve a wide range of stakeholders.
Capacity building.
Communication
Monitoring and evaluation