Assignments

Which of the statements below are true?

Please answer the statements below. For each statement, the correct answer is described and justified.

No.A specific role in and of itself does not guarantee significant impactfulness. The impact you have in your role as researcher is mainly dependent on two factors. Firstly, how understandable and convincing your messages are, and secondly, what the policy-makers are looking for and how well your messages suit these needs. The potential for impact is usually reduced if you deviate from the commissioned assignment or task. The same applies if the messages you channel are too general or too specific.

No. A specific role in and of itself does not guarantee significant impactfulness. The impact you have in your role as researcher is mainly dependent on two factors. Firstly, how understandable and convincing your messages are, and secondly, what the policy-makers are looking for and how well your messages suit these needs. The potential for impact is usually reduced if you deviate from the commissioned assignment or task. The same applies if the messages you channel are too general or too specific.

No. The researcher does not have to be constantly mindful of their role. In fact, this can be very difficult as the discussions are fast-paced and iterative. However, being able to identify the roles can be a helpful tool in conceptualising various alternatives during interaction. The roles can also help differentiate what kind of knowledge the researcher wants to channel and what kind they do not.

No. The researcher does not have to be constantly mindful of their role. In fact, this can be very difficult as the discussions are fast-paced and iterative. However, being able to identify the roles can be a helpful tool in conceptualising various alternatives during interaction. The roles can also help differentiate what kind of knowledge the researcher wants to channel and what kind they do not.

Yes. Learning does not automatically mean that understanding, skills or attitudes develop in a way that moves the interaction between research and policy into a more informative or pleasant direction. You cannot affect how others experience a discussion or what they learn from it, for example. However, you can try to reflect on what went well this time and what could be developed for the next one.

Yes. Learning does not automatically mean that understanding, skills or attitudes develop in a way that moves the interaction between research and policy into a more informative or pleasant direction. You cannot affect how others experience a discussion or what they learn from it, for example. However, you can try to reflect on what went well this time and what could be developed for the next one.

Write a short reflection

Utilise your own observations and views.

  • Write: what are your thoughts on the division of the roles? And which of the roles feels most natural to you, and which feels the most distant? Justify your answers. 

Read article and write a short text

Complement the things you learned from the course material with contents of an article. 

  • Read: Adelle, C., Pereira, L., Görgens, T. & Losch, B. (2020). Making sense together: The role of scientists in the coproduction of knowledge for policy making. Science and Public Policy, 47(1), 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scz046. This article describes researchers’ roles from the perspective of co-production. Practices of co-production are typical in research-policy interactions. Often they are characterised by different forms of cooperation in which researchers and policymakers discuss together to produce new understanding for example on contemporary issues or to construct starting points for relevant knowledge production. The article’s role categorisation is based on actions that researchers can take to further exchange of ideas and to enhance the construction of mutual understanding between researchers and stakeholders through interaction. Adelle et al. suggest that researchers role can be to define and explore a problem, deconstruct and contextualise a problem or recommend solutions for a problem. They also apply their categorisation to a empirical case. 
  • Write: a short text and describe how co-production connects to interaction between science and policy according to Adelle et al. (2020). Furthermore, think about the differences and similarities between the categorisation used in the article and the one presented in the course. Also write about what you found most interesting about the article.  

Literature and further reading 

Adelle, C., Görgens, T., Kroll, F. & Losch, B. (2021). Co-production of knowledge in transdisciplinary communities of practice: Experiences from food governance in South Africa. Science and Public Policy, 48:2, 145-153. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scaa069 

Broström, A. & McKelvey, M. (2018). Engaging experts: Science-policy interactions and the introduction of congestion charging in Stockholm. Minerva, 56: 183-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-017-9331-3 

Turnhout, E., M. Stuiver, J. Klostermann, B. Harms & C. Leeuwis (2013). New roles of science in society: Different repertoires of knowledge brokering. Science and Public Policy, 40:3, 354-365. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scs114 

Pohl, C., Rist, S., Zimmermann, A., Fry, P., Gurung, G., Schneider, F., Speranza, C., Kiteme, B., Boillat, S., Serrano, E., Hadorn, H., & Wiesmann, U. (2010). Researchers’ roles in knowledge co-production: experience from sustainability research in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal. Science and Public Policy, 37:4, 267-281. https://doi.org/10.3152/030234210X496628