A reflection on the relational aspects of research policy interfaces

Abstract

In this short reflection on how research and policy can connect fruitfully, I briefly outline three key concepts that have arisen in my work on inter-professional collaboration in the caring professions: relational expertise, common knowledge and relational agency. I have argued that these concepts describe the work that is done at sites of intersecting practices to enable quick and meaningful collaboration on complex problems. I also, however, point to the dangers of omitting the intentions of citizens from these exchanges. Describing the research-policy interface as a site of intersecting practices, I draw on a recent study undertaken at a UK University to show how these concepts can explain successful relational engagements at the research-policy interface that benefit both research and policy and highlight the moral purposes of this kind of engagement in relation to environmental and sustainability education.

Keywords:

• Research-policy
• collaboration
• relational expertise
• common knowledge
• relational agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne Edwards

Anne Edwards is a former Director of the Department of Education at the University of Oxford and a former President of the British Educational Research Association. She holds degrees honoris causa from the Universities of Helsinki and Oslo in recognition of her work on relational expertise and collaboration across practice boundaries. Her research, which draws on Vygotskian understandings of learning and culture, has largely been located in the field of professional learning in the caring professions. She has also had a long-standing commitment to ensuring that social research engages with the communities with which it is working in ways that benefit both the communities and the research.