Abstract
This commentary provides a first-hand account of a year-long collaborative academic–policy synthesis project – Exploring Inequalities: Igniting Research to Better Inform UK Policy – between University College London (UCL) and the Resolution Foundation. We brought together leading experts from over fifty organizations, convened six roundtables and conducted additional in-depth interviews. This collaboration resulted in a series of action notes and a final report, Structurally Unsound (Morris et al., 2019). By reflecting on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of doing this type of project, we reveal the hidden realities of knowledge exchange and open up new possibilities for understanding successes and failures for future projects of this kind.
Highlights
This commentary provides a first-hand account of a year-long collaborative academic–policy synthesis project – Exploring Inequalities: Igniting Research to Better Inform UK Policy – between University College London (UCL) and the Resolution Foundation
‘Project participants’ is used to refer to individuals drawn from policy, the third sector, business and academia across the domains of education, employment, health and housing, who participated in the roundtables and evidencegathering interviews, and contributed to knowledge exchange throughout the project
The continued engagement of the original working group beyond the project’s formal conclusion is generating further benefits, with more individuals and organisations getting involved and focus turning increasingly towards formulating shared policy positions and ideas. Such reflection prompts the question of how knowledge exchange projects can be ‘measured’ and evaluated in a way that takes account of tangible outcomes, as well as valuable ‘soft’ impacts
Summary
This commentary provides a first-hand account of a year-long collaborative academic–policy synthesis project – Exploring Inequalities: Igniting Research to Better Inform UK Policy – between University College London (UCL) and the Resolution Foundation. Key messages This commentary is an example of how the complexities of knowledge exchange and the inequities within partnerships can have a significant effect on both the final outcomes of a project and the collaborators who are involved.
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