[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Katrin Prager, senior social scientist at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, and originally appeared at Integration and Implementation Insights.] How does the mismatch between policy and research processes and timelines stymie co-creation? I describe an example from a project in Sachsen-Anhalt state in Germany, along with lessons learnt. The project, initiated by researchers, aimed to use a more participatory approach t

[Editor’s note: This post was written by Zenda Ofir, South African scientist, independent international evaluator, and knowledge management specialist. The piece was originally published at Zenda’s new blog Evaluation for Development, which P&I strongly recommends.] I have come to the conclusion that nearly everything in life is influenced by power. Yet we almost never evaluate for it. It is difficult to be powerless and happy. The type and extent of the power we want will di

[Editor’s note: This post was written by Paul R. Kelly, PhD Researcher in Impact, Evaluation & Service Design, Lancaster University, UK. Email: paulrichardkelly@gmail.com.] Introduction Welcome attention is now being paid to how evaluations can better engage with and contribute to policy processes, beyond dissemination alone. One example of this trend is CIPPEC’s work on influencing public policy assessments (2015). To add to this kind of work, I would also like pose some qu

[Editor’s Note: This post is a reflection on the webinar ‘Nevermind the research piece! Communicating in Policy Environments’. It was written by Rebecca Pointer, one of the speakers at the webinar and Information and Communications Officer at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS). It is published in tandem with VIPPAL.] In the 20 March Webinar Never mind the research piece! Communicating in policy environments, presenters unpacked a range of tools for o