Co-create DEMO! Bridging research and policy dialogue
How can we strengthen collaboration between research and policymaking? We invited researchers and policymakers to work together to develop new ways of interacting.
In January 2023, the projects of the Strategic Research DEMOGRAPHY programme organized two co-creation workshops that brought together researchers and ministry officials.
The goal was to assess the current state of interaction between research and policymaking and to outline a model for a more intensive dialogue. It was also important to bring researchers and policymakers to the same table to engage in discussion and get to know one another.
– Research should not only be conducted for knowledge users, but also with them, summarized Laura Salonen, a researcher from the LIFECON project and facilitator of the workshops.
The ideas generated during the workshops have been compiled into a summary (in Finnish), which outlines potential bridges between the paths of research and policymaking.
The workshops used the “me-we-us” method, which gradually broadens the perspective from individual work to shared understanding. Participants were given a roadmap showing separate lanes for policymaking and research. The aim was to identify existing bridges between them—and, more importantly, to generate new ones.
A shared understanding of the current state of dialogue emerged during the sessions. While the interaction is already quite close, gaps, challenges, and obstacles were also identified. At the same time, new and concrete ideas for improving collaboration were discovered.
– These kinds of encounters between civil servants and researchers are truly important, and we need more of them. We civil servants are happy to engage in dialogue with researchers and to help develop collaboration, said Sami Tantarimäki, Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, who participated in the workshop.
More information (in Finnish)
Image: Anssi Kumpula