Reports and toolkits
Rapid Evidence Assessment: How is Artificial Intelligence Governed in Australia,
France, Italy and Singapore?
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly increasing and is characterised by rapid and uncertain development. This rapid evidence assessment explores models of governance adopted in other countries to provide insights for policy makers in the UK.
It was produced as part of a pilot project to develop robust methods for producing rapid reviews of research for Parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has worked with the Rapid Research, Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), and the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) to produce rapid research synthesis based on comprehensive searches of academic databases, often involving the screening of thousands of studies. The researchers worked directly with Parliamentary select committees to carry out fast turnaround summaries of available research literature.
Rapid Evidence Assessment: What are the effects of artificial light on human health?
This briefing brings together the latest evidence on the effects that artificial light can have on human health.
This rapid evidence assessment was produced as part of a pilot project to develop robust methods for producing rapid reviews of research for Parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has worked with the Rapid Research, Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), and the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) to produce rapid research synthesis based on comprehensive searches of academic databases, often involving the screening of thousands of studies. The researchers worked directly with Parliamentary select committees to carry out fast turnaround summaries of available research literature.
Rapid Evidence Assessment: Methods used by France, Germany, Italy and Sweden to Streamline Asylum Procedures
This report maps the literature and policy on asylum procedures, providing an overview of asylum systems in EU countries (France, Germany, Italy and Sweden) and summarising the evidence on how they have attempted to streamline their asylum procedures.
This rapid evidence assessment was produced as part of a pilot project to develop robust methods for producing rapid reviews of research for Parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has worked with the Rapid Research, Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), and the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) to produce rapid research synthesis based on comprehensive searches of academic databases, often involving the screening of thousands of studies. The researchers worked directly with Parliamentary select committees to carry out fast turnaround summaries of available research literature.
Rapid Evidence Assessment: To what extent do lower-level offenders go on to commit more serious crimes?
This briefing reports the findings of a rapid evidence assessment exploring the evidence on perpetrators and/or offenders of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and whether committing lower-level offences leads to escalation to more serious crimes.
This rapid evidence assessment was produced as part of a pilot project to develop robust methods for producing rapid reviews of research for Parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has worked with the Rapid Research, Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), and the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) to produce rapid research synthesis based on comprehensive searches of academic databases, often involving the screening of thousands of studies. The researchers worked directly with Parliamentary select committees to carry out fast turnaround summaries of available research literature.
Warning: This briefing flags issues around sexual violence and domestic abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Co-production in Regional Academic-Policy Engagement: Developing Optimal Conditions
Co-production in academic policy engagement is about bringing people together to collaborate and address complex policy challenges. This method of working is about communicating effectively, sharing power well, valuing each other’s skills and knowledge, and offering value for all, not just the few. There is no single, ‘one-size-fits-all’ model for co-production, and each collaboration should be designed to suit the specific context and people involved.
Our guide, produced by CAPE and the Co-Production Collective, is designed to be used as a reference tool for those working in and around regional academic policy engagement to help plan and organise co-produced projects. The guide explains the key principles of co-production and explores some of the necessary ‘conditions’ for effective practices to thrive in the context of regional academic-policy engagement.
Green Blue Infrastructure Impacts on Health and Wellbeing: A Rapid Evidence Assessment
This Rapid Evidence Assessment brings together current literature on the impacts of Green Blue Infrastructure on people’s health and wellbeing in the UK, and the implications of these findings for both policy and practice.
The report is the first of five to be published across May – July 2023 as part of a CAPE-funded pilot project. This project is a partnership between CAPE, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), Rapid Research, Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), and the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO). It is designed to test the feasibility of using robust systematic review-informed methods for producing rapid research synthesis for Parliamentarians.
The project is being led by Jonathan Breckon, a CAPE Policy Fellow based in POST. Further guidance for commissioners of reviewers, templates, and a report on lessons learnt from the project will follow this summer
Review paper: Assessing the effectiveness of the Oldham Economic Review as an instrument for impactful academic-policy engagement
Based on a novel format of regularly-held Select Committee-style hearings, The Oldham Economic Review (OER) was designed to provide a new approach to local economic policy development in Oldham.
One year on from the publication of the original OER report, Professor Alan Harding, CAPE Policy Fellow and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority reflects here on the process of running the OER, and discusses how effective the review process was for achieving high-quality academic-policy engagement. Outlining the format’s opportunities and challenges, the report considers the success of the approach, and offers insights into how and where similar models might work best.
CAPE Policy Fellowships Contracts Guidance Note
Policy Fellowships – placing university research and research services staff into policy organisations – is a fast-growing area of academic policy engagement activity. Our experience at CAPE has shown that establishing a process for Policy Fellows and finalising contracts can be time and resource intensive. This is because they have tended to require bespoke contracts that reflect the circumstances of each fellowship as well as the requirements of the university, host policy organisation and any third-party funder in relation to the fellowship.
Our Contracts Guidance Note is designed to be used as a reference tool for university staff seeking to create fellowships. It includes common contract negotiation points, clarification of terminology, and a suggested process timeline.
Engaging with Evidence toolkit
This is a toolkit on how to utilise, synthesise, scrutinise, and engage with evidence and expertise for policy development. It was created by Nesta in partnership with the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) programme and the Chief Scientific Adviser’s (CSA) Office at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
It’s been designed to help translate the ambition of evidence-informed decision-making into actionable learning content that can be adapted to different contexts, time frames and work plans.
It offers a range of interactive activities that you can use to determine what evidence and expertise is needed for what purposes – and the principles, processes, methodologies, and tools that can support this work.
Hosting Policy Fellows:
a guide for Higher Education Institutions
Policy Fellowships, where academics and policy professionals spend time in each other’s organisations to exchange knowledge, are becoming a far more visible and common method of supporting academic-policy engagement. From 2020-22 CAPE adapted the model pioneered by the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) to run a pilot collaborative Policy Fellowship programme, whereby policy professionals spent time in CAPE universities meeting academics and research services staff.
Based upon our experience, our new guide Hosting Policy Fellows: a guide for Higher Education Institutions shares knowledge, processes, and procedures of setting up and delivering a Policy Fellowship programme alongside indications of resourcing and timelines. It also provides templates that universities can use.
Our aim is to support HEIs who wish to run, formalise, or get involved in existing Policy Fellowship programmes as part of their wider academic-policy engagement strategies. If you’re planning on using the guide, we’d love your feedback so get in touch!
Report: Perceptions and Experiences of Academic Policy Engagement in UK Higher Education Institutions
Following a CAPE survey, we are pleased to publish our report Perceptions and Experiences of Academic Policy Engagement in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In the report we explore what academic policy engagement means, what the experience of engaging is like on the ground, and what a ‘good outcome’ looks like to both academics and professional services staff.
Our key findings highlighted that:
- Academics and professional services across UK HEIs are committed to trying to effect change through academic policy engagement.
- Relationships matter both in the act of engaging with policy and also the outcome of that engagement.
- Engaging with policy can be rewarding for academics but it is also hard work and time intensive.
- Better systems and structures are needed to support engagement: more time, funding, and reward should be given especially earlier in academic careers. Professional services need improved career trajectories.
Lessons from literature and practice: how to support successful academic-policy engagement
With increasing scholarly investigation of academic-policy engagement in recent years, we explore what common insights are emerging from this literature and what this tells us about how to have successful engagement in practice.
Journal article: What works to promote research-policy engagement?
Paper from Transforming Evidence, CAPE’s evaluation team, reviewing current research policy engagement activities from organisations world-wide. Their research finds that most initiatives do not draw on existing evidence and theory and are unevaluated. Future initiatives need to be based upon evidence of what works.