Evidence-based Policy for Development

Science and Engineering at The University of Edinburgh

School of GeoSciences

Professor Paul van Gardingen

Evidence-based Policy for Development

Scientific knowledge can make a major contribution to promoting international development through its contribution to policy. Evidence-based policy for development can draw upon a vast array of research, both current and from the past. When this is done, it can significantly increase the impact on development of policies influencing the actions of civil society, governments, development agencies and the private sector. The benefits of evidence-based policies are clear, but even so, it remains the case that often policy makers do not have access to most appropriate evidence.

There are a number of reasons why the policy process does not use the most appropriate research evidence. Research results, may be inaccessible to policy-makers, or else presented in a form that is difficult to use. Alternatively, policy-makers may be presented with "information overload" from too many sources of knowledge indicating that they may require knowledge brokers. Finally, it is often clear that there may be need for activities to bridge the gap between the ways that researchers and policy makers work, communicate and use information.

The following examples illustrate ways that are being used to build evidence-based policy for development.

Delivering policy-relevant research

For over ten years from the early 1990's work in Indonesia funded by DFID and the European Commission aimed to provide policy-relevant research for the sustainable management of Indonesia's forests. Policy-makers had been presented a complex and confused set of research results from decades of investment in forest research, none of which could be applied immediately to policy. The SYMFOR project worked to overcome this challenge to synthesise existing knowledge and present it is a form that could be used by policy makers. The system provided a way to visualise the likely outcomes of policies and to evaluate alternative scenarios. As a result of this work and other related projects, the Government recognised that their forest management policy was not effective and it adopted new policies using approaches that had been evaluated in the SYMFOR system.
The key step in this process was providing research results in a form that met the needs of policy.

Enhancing access to research

It is often difficult for the policy community to find research to support their work even though it is readily available within the scientific community. Significant benefits can be derived through the provision of links to relevant research and expertise, and through the systematic review of information when there are several projects on a topic. A number of ways to address these issues have been implemented through recent projects. The establishment of the Edinburgh International Development Centre was designed to provide a portal to relevant information, activities and expertise within the University of Edinburgh. A similar process was then started for Scottish institutions through the Scottish Initiative for International Development Science (SIIDS). The Darwin Information Project aimed to provide enhanced access to the results from research projects funded under Defra's Darwin Initiative, through a new website which now provides access to all of the scientific output from Darwin Projects. In recognition that this could just add to information overload, the Darwin information Project also involved a systematic review of all projects funded by the Initiative in order to define their potential contribution to the Convention on Biological Diversity. An example of the value of this approach was the systematic (thematic) review of Darwin Initiative projects on island ecosystems that was prepared for the CBD's 2008 Conference of Parties.