Understanding the research-policy relationship in ESE: insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures

Abstract

This paper looks beyond the environmental and sustainability education (ESE) field for ideas on understanding the research-policy relationship. It examines two specific bodies of literature that have analysed the interplay of research and policy in different ways – critical policy studies and evidence use studies. Bringing these two literatures into conversation, we draw out insights in relation to: what counts as evidence in policy decision-making, what influences policy processes beyond evidence, and what roles research can play in relation to policy making. We then consider how these issues from beyond the field might advance research and policy in ESE. We argue that ESE policy is distinctive in its scale, breadth and contestation, and that there is a need for more diverse work in relation to the ESE research-policy interface.

Keywords:

• Education policy
• policy by numbers
• policy mobility
• research use
• evidence use

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

Mark Rickinson

Mark Rickinson is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Mark’s work is focused on improving the use and usefulness of educational research in policy and practice. In Australia, and before that in the UK, he has undertaken research, evaluation and capacity building projects around evidence-based policy, evidence-informed practice and environmental and sustainability education. He is currently leading the Monash Q Project (Quality Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education), a new 5-year initiative to improve the use of research evidence in Australian schools.

Marcia McKenzie

Marcia McKenzie is a Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Director of the Sustainability and Education Policy Network (www.sepn.ca). With a focus on advancing research and policy on climate and sustainability in education, she has recently (co)authored a number of commissioned reports for UNESCO, and leads the SSHRC-funded Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Education (MECCE) project, a six-year global partnership project to advance the quality and quantity of climate change education, training, and public awareness. She is the editor and author of four books and numerous articles, and co-editor of the Palgrave Studies in Education and the Environment book series.