Knowledge brokers in education: How intermediary organizations are bridging the gap between research, policy and practice internationally

Interest in how to better connect research to policy and practice is gaining momentum globally. Also gaining widespread agreement is the view that intermediary organizations have an important role to play in facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships between researchers, practitioners and policymakers in order to increase the mobilization of research and its impact in public service sectors. Knowledge mobilization (KMb) includes efforts to strengthen linkages between research, practice and policy in public service sectors. This special issue explores a range of intermediary organizations, networks and initiatives in order to showcase how research-practice-policy gaps are being addressed in different contexts.

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Knowledge Mobilization as Design: The Case of the Canadian Homelessness Research Network

Scholarly and Research Communication ◽

10.22230/src.2014v5n3a163 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Steve Gaetz

Keyword(s):

Design Thinking ◽

Research Policy ◽

Research Network ◽

Knowledge Mobilization ◽

Engaged Scholarship ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Content Creation ◽

Collaborative Processes ◽

Content Development ◽

The Impact

The Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) was established to create a stronger link between homelessness research, policy, and practice. The knowledge mobilization strategy of the CHRN encompasses engaged scholarship, networking, and innovative dissemination practices. Part of the learning of the CHRN has been the need to reimagine and redefine the traditional relationship between content creation and dissemination. Using a “design thinking” perspective, the CHRN has nurtured a practice that integrates collaborative processes of knowledge and content development with a more assertive involvement in different aspects of publishing (and modes of publication), including graphic design, marketing, communications, and dissemination, with the goal of increasing the impact of research. This article explores this shift, using examples of work the CHRN produced and disseminated through the Homeless Hub.

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Improving Governance of Tenure in Policy and Practice: A Conceptual Basis to Analyze Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Multi-Stakeholder Transformative Governance Illustrated with an Example from South Africa

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12239901 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 9901 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louisa J.M. Jansen ◽

Patrick P. Kalas

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Land Reform ◽

National Level ◽

Reform Process ◽

Success Factor ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Public And Private ◽

Stakeholder Partnerships ◽

Multi Stakeholder ◽

Governance Arrangements

Tenure governance is a complex and multi-dimensional issue that requires cross-sectoral and holistic approaches, gathering the resources, information and expert skills of a variety of actors while exploring innovative, polycentric multi-stakeholder governance arrangements to address collective action challenges. To do this, multi-stakeholder partnerships are formed where public and private partners pool their resources and competencies to address mutual goals more effectively. A coherent theoretical framework to analyze multi-stakeholder partnerships as part of multi-stakeholder governance is presented based on internal conditions and the external environment. The paper expands existing frameworks to analyze multi-stakeholder partnerships through introducing a new element the deliberative capacity, a decisive success factor for the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder partnerships for multi-stakeholder transformative governance at the national level. Moreover, the practical applicability of this expanded framework is illustrated in a real case example in South Africa. This country-driven, inclusive multi-stakeholder partnership process, which integrates a variety of actors in collective decision-making on the land reform process as part of a multi-stakeholder governance process, is used as an illustration of the above framework. Such a partnership linked to multi-stakeholder governance is the key instrument to attain agreement and recognition for the dedicated implementation and monitoring of the ‘Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security’ (VGGT). The investment made by the different stakeholders in this organically constituted partnership may add to a greater transformative potential in the VGGT implementation and monitoring process, and the probability that the situation on the ground will change sustainably given the explicit linkage to national governance arrangements.

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Coaching as a Knowledge Mobilization Strategy: Coaches' Centrality in a Provincial Research Brokering Network

International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership ◽

10.22230/ijepl.2019v14n5a864 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Joelle Rodway

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Networks ◽

Research Policy ◽

School Mental Health ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Knowledge Mobilization ◽

Original Design ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Mental Health Policies ◽

Patterns Of Interaction

Ontario’s Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) program is a provinciallysponsored initiative that aims to build school district capacity for developing research-informed school mental health policies. This article reports findings from a mixed-methods study that employs social network theory and analysis tools to explore the centrality of CYMH coaches within this research brokering network. Overall, CYMH coaches are central within these social networks, although the patterns of interaction differ from the program’s original design, with some coaches being more central than others. While formal CYMH professional development events appear to be the most direct approach to connecting research, policy, and practice, informal social networks provide the support necessary to make sense of research-based materials for use in local policymaking.

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THE BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND FAMILY QUALITY OF LIFE: APPLYING RESEARCH, POLICY, AND PRACTICE TO INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY LIVING

International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies ◽

10.18357/ijcyfs94201818637 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Roy I. Brown ◽

Alice Schippers

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Research Policy ◽

The Other ◽

Family Quality Of Life ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽

Research Practice ◽

Special Issue ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Wide Range

This article introduces the concepts of quality of life and family quality of life and shows how they have developed in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities in terms of concepts and principles. The article underscores the relevance of many of the principles and practices to a wide range of disabilities and challenges in the broad field of human development. Finally, the article provides an introduction to the other articles in this special issue, and considers their relationship to the broader areas of research, practice, and policy.

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Research Commentary: A Carer’s Roadmap for Research, Practice, and Policy on Suicide, Homicide, and Self-Harm

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs9050048 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

◽

Kristin Liabo ◽

Siobhan O’Dwyer

Keyword(s):

Research Policy ◽

Future Research ◽

Research Practice ◽

Important Research ◽

Special Issue ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

The Public ◽

Academic Researchers ◽

Self Harm ◽

Research Questions

Academic researchers are increasingly asked to engage with the wider world, both in terms of creating impact from their work, and in telling the world what goes on in university research departments. An aspect of this engagement involves working with patients, carers or members of the public as partners in research. This means working with them to identify important research questions and designing studies to address those questions. This commentary was jointly written by two researchers and people with relevant caring experience for this special issue. It brings to the forefront the concerns of carers who are also involved in research as partners. The aim is to highlight their perspectives to inform future research, policy, and practice.

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