Impact and knowledge mobilisation: what I have learnt as Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council Evaluation Committee

Abstract

This paper, written by the current Chair of the Evaluation Committee of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), highlights the findings from the impact studies commissioned by the Committee over the last six years. The first part of the paper outlines the context to the new focus on ‘impact’. In particular it notes how developments in knowledge mobilisation, especially in Canada, came together with the rise of evidence-based policy and practice. With New Labour (and currently the coalition government) making greater use of research evidence there was a strong message to the Research Councils that they needed to demonstrate a better return from their investments in research by demonstrating economic, societal and scientific ‘impact’. However, a major challenge was: how could ‘impact’ be demonstrated? The central sections of the paper summarise the findings from three groups of ESRC ‘impact’ studies. These studies have done much to inform how ESRC researchers could better achieve knowledge mobilisation and ‘impact’, and what they should do to create ‘Pathways to Impact’. The final section asks: ‘where have we come from on knowledge mobilisation and impact’, and ‘where might we be going’? In undertaking these evaluation studies on impact, much has been learnt which the author believes deserve wider publication but there are further challenges ahead.

Keywords:

• impact
• knowledge mobilisation
• ESRC

Notes on contributor

Professor Ann Buchanan is Emeritus Professor at University of Oxford. She was previously Director of the Centre for Research into Children and Families. She was appointed to the Council of the ESRC in 2007 and also sits on the Audit Committee. She was appointed to Chair the Evaluation Committee in 2010. She is a member of the University of Oxford Research Committee. She was appointed an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2009 and to the Council in 2011. In 2012 she was awarded an MBE for services to social science.

Notes

1. Inevitably this paper is a reflective piece. The views expressed are my own and not those of the ESRC.