Training Workbook

In this training and workbook, we recommend that researchers take a strategic approach in planning their policy engagement and communication, grounded in an understanding of the policy issue, relevant stakeholders, and institutional contexts. We believe that researchers who understand their own long-term goals and immediate objectives for engaging in policy will be best equipped to choose the most appropriate and efficacious pathways for themselves. But it is important to recognize that these goals and objectives are likely not static; they may change from meeting to meeting with decision-makers. Researchers who are drawn to a specific policy issue based on their area of expertise may find themselves needing to redefine their goals and objectives to meet the vicissitudes of policy processes, while others may decide to choose specific types of engagement based on their own priorities.

Most of this training will focus on selecting tactics within the context of a specific policy issue: 1) deciding whether more technocratic decision-making or public deliberation approaches are more appropriate; 2) establishing what types of evidence are needed by the decision-maker based on the policy stage; 3) selecting a communicative mode and role; 4) building relationships; and 5) communicating complex science and uncertainty. The workbook takes research experts through the process of navigating each of these sets of decisions. The Appendix includes written case studies on which the training is based and an example of a stakeholder analysis.

View and download the workbook by clicking on the image on the left.