Sustainability of research programmes: some theory and previous experience

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Sustainability of research programmes some
theory and previous experience
ESRC Science in Society Programme annual
meetingNovember 2005

• Alister Scott
• Alister_at_theknowledgebridge.com
• 0845 456 8400

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Why me?

• 1992-2000, Asst Director, ESRC Global
  Environmental Change Programme,
• Since then, knowledge bridging
• Doctorate on relevant social science
  incentives for social relevance and
  communication, SPRU, Sussex

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What can the legacy be?

• Products
• Processes
• Policy
• Problems
• People

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Products

• Is new knowledge the main output?
• In what form? How accessible?
• Publications academic and other
• Dissemination is dead, long live

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Examples of products

• Outputs that were doing something
• Often not new knowledge
• Synthesis, identifying what we know
• Not just information ideas frameworks,
  perspectives, methods
• Instrumental and conceptual use

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Processes

• Effective learning is often interactive
• Requires familiarity, networks, trust
• Informal, face-to-face, its people
• So you need a process

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Some processes

• Involvements and alliances
• Active and reactive
• Advice, consulting, research
• Media

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Policy

• The big question has policy changed?
• How receptive? Diffuse, networks.
• Attention cycle, ideas, incentives
• Timescale, factors beyond control

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Problems

• What we dont know new research
• Why we dont know it
• Coverage of territory?
• Adequacy of methods/frameworks?
• Disagreement? Lack of cooperation?
• Influencing new research agendas

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People

• Where do you go next?
• The role of disciplines and institutions
• A diaspora capacity
• The most significant impact?

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Challenges

• Identifying and taking opportunities
• Aligning academic and social relevance
• The top of the T
• Realising our own power