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www.iwmi.org

A water-secure world

Farah Ahmed

Date- 26th January, 2016

Location- Ho Chin Minh City,

Vietnam

Urbanizing Deltas of the World:

Research uptake

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I Background

This presentation intends help researchers understand uptake and uptake strategies to implement it in their respective research programmes and in developing an output/outcomes based approach

• Definition of research Uptake –“The effective utilization of research-based evidence by decision makers to improve development practice and policy, and donor investments, thereby leading to positive development outcomes.” In short making your research accessible.

• ‘Uptake’ is what a decision-maker or other key stakeholder is doing when they modify their attitude, develop knowledge or skills through the research process and based on the outputs of research.

For the purpose of uptake strategy -

• Research uptake strategies should encompass stakeholder engagement, capacity building, communication and monitoring and evaluation

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The key elements of an uptake strategy

• Planning a strategy

• Publishing research results

• Re-packaging it and targeting the right audience

Communications

• Mapping the relevant key stakeholders

• Plan a stakeholder engagement strategy

• Facilitate evidence informed discussions and dialogues

Stakeholder Engagement

• Organizational development

• Trainings and workshops

• Strengthen internal and external communications

Capacity building

• Short –term and Long term Impacts

• SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attributable, Realistic, Time-bound)

• Outputs, outcomes and Impacts

Monitoring and Evaluation

What do you want to accomplish? (Objective)

Whom to communicate (audience)

What to communicate and how? (content)

What do we know already?(baseline)

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Why is there a need for Uptake?

It is important to improve the demand for research evidence as much as it appears generally to improve

supply, particularly in the policy sphere

Improving peoples lives

Research needs to move beyond publications /books and move to

impacts

Improving our ability to assess the impact of

research

Balancing the supply and demand for research

Acts as a knowledge intermediaries

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Objectives of an uptake strategy

Create platforms that bring together and

synthesize project-level research

Serve as a guide for prioritizing activities

and navigating towards objectives

Clarifies resource and other requirements

Create mechanisms for internal reflection and external

consultation to refine uptake approaches

Leverage opportunities for cross country/regional knowledge

synthesis

Support research projects to identify key

partners and stakeholders

Creates impacts to research outcomes

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Entry points for Uptake

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Approaches for uptake

• Creating partnerships for larger

outreach

Engaging with media

Develop ICT projects for engaging

with stakeholders and

• Conducting a stakeholder mapping

Facilitating dialogues with

stakeholders

Organizing round table discussions

and meetings

Organizing workshops to build

awareness among stakeholders

• Develop a communications strategy

for stakeholder engagement

Developing communication products

for specific stakeholders (policy

briefs and brochures etc)

Videos and films

Website development

• Develop a ‘theory of change’ for your

project to ensure and measure

change

• Develop an impact pathways

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Some examples of a wish list of uptake activities/approaches

Policy dialogues

Engagement strategy Action

research projects

Round table

discussions

Impacts and outcomes

National and regional

strategies

Open plenary sessions

Communication planStakeholder

mapping

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Guidelines to Develop an Uptake Strategy

Uptake strategies for the stages during the project lifetime• For each critical uptake point (arrow):1) Define uptake objective/action

e.g. Investments are made in water storage in Ethiopia and Ghana

2) Define who will make this decision/take this action. (stakeholder analysis)Be as specific as possible, even down to giving individuals’ names if possible. E.g. Development agencies including:- ADB (target people …)- World Bank (target people …)

3) Understand the rationale for action. Ask the following action questions:a) Do they have the awareness of the problem/opportunity?b) Do they understand the benefits/ramifications?c) Do they have the capacity (skills and knowledge) to act?d) Do they have the necessary resources (information and capital)?e) Do they have the incentives to act?f) Is the action required culturally/socially acceptable?g) Is there anything else needed for them to act or that will stop them from acting?

4) Develop an uptake strategy:a) Determine what needs to be provided or influenced.b) Select ways to achieve this (See attached checklist for ideas):

- Channels: What people and organizations can be involved? What existing events or activities can be capitalized on?

- Products, tools and activities used or created- Access to these ensured- Promotion of these carried out.

Uptake strategies for post project time line stages:

1) Define the outcome or impacte.g. Improved Livelihoods

2) Define who the direct recipient ise.g. the rural poor farmers in Ethiopia and Ghana

3) Understand what will cause/ensure this to happen. Ask what else has to happen or what are the assumptions for the previous outcome to lead to this outcome /impact?

E.g. what else has to happen for the increased resilience in climate change to lead to improved livelihoods – more crops are planted, higher yields are produced, there is a market for the extra produce, the farmer has access to this market, etc?

4) Develop an uptake strategy as appropriate.a) What might be the largest barriers to uptake and impact?b) Who can best assist with this?c) What involvement, influence, capacity, knowledge or information can the project leave behind?

Consolidate these strategies

Set up an implementation plan: what, who, when and costs

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Exploring the barriers to research uptake

The following critical issues were identified as barriers to uptake:

– Institutional barriers – some institutions have policies that do not support uptake, if successful uptake

is needed, those policies need to be addressed and changed

– Leadership- leadership needs to be the driving force behind uptake, in most cases where uptake fails it

because leadership is not supportive

– Skill sets - Uptake requires certain set of skills, appropriate capacity building is needed to ensure that

uptake coordinators are well equipped to deliver.

– Sometimes funders/donors decides the direction of the uptake- and sometimes that is not the right approach

and it becomes a barrier in how coordinators would like to deliver uptake

– Poor linkage – no structures linking researchers and partners

– Sometimes researchers have some sceptism in engaging in uptake activities.

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Questions to be addressed

Stakeholder engagement

1. Define the research uptake objective?

2. Identify relevant/key stakeholders that will benefit from the research?

3. Is there a stakeholder engagement plan?

4. Are there plans for on-going engagement with stakeholders throughout the programme?

5. Are there plans to facilitate evidence-informed discussions?

Capacity building

1. Do we have the skill sets internally to help support a communications plan?

2. Do we have the skills sets in our team to repackage and share our research findings externally?

3. Do we need to strengthen capacities internally and externally with appropriate trainings?

4. Does the programme team have the capacity to implement their capacity building strategy?

Communications plan

1. Do we have a communication plan inbuilt for sharing our research findings in phases?

2. Is there a plan to re-package and communicate findings to non-specialist audiences? Identified tools?

3. Do we have the skill sets within our team to help support communications and outreach?

Monitoring and Evaluation

1. Is research uptake appropriately reflected in the logframe?

2. Is there a strategy for gathering and recording data on research uptake?

3. Is there an appropriate evaluation strategy inbuilt in your research programme?

4. Is sufficient resource allocated to monitoring and evaluation?

5. Is there a strategy for sharing learning on research uptake?

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• These were some interesting examples shared during the forum of innovative ways of uptake. The link -

http://www.resupmeetup.net/resources/ lists some of the programs, tools and approaches discussed such as DRUSSA, ODI’s

RAPID programme and 3ie’s policy impact toolkit. In addition to the listed resources, listing down a few more interesting

approaches

• DFID’s Uptake strategy guide -https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200088/Research_uptake_guidance.pdf

• Digital Storytelling – Banyan tree project (HIV aids)

• Stakeholder Analysis as a research uptake tool – case of PRIME

• ODI’s ‘Stories of Change’ tool which uses cable of evidence –

– http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/153.pdf>> See the tool called ‘Stories’

– http://www.odi.org/publications/5235-storytelling-steve-denning

– http://www.odi.org/publications/5267-storytelling-story

How to monitor success and M&E tools?

A question raised time and again. No one way of accurately monitoring success and influence could be arrived upon.

However, various strategies and feedback mechanisms were discussed such as focus group testing, periodic surveys, impact

analysis and tools of M&E of research communications

Other resources-

• http://resyst.lshtm.ac.uk/news-and-blogs/ethics-resupmeetup-six-things-people-are-talking-about

• http://www.resupmeetup.net/research-communicators-lets-talk-politics-shall-we/

• http://www.researchtoaction.org/howto/uptake-strategy/

• http://www.researchtoaction.org/howto/policy-briefs-2/

• http://www.researchtoaction.org/category/making-your-research-accessible/using-digital-tools/

Uptake- how others are doing it?

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Thank you!

Farah Ahmed

Coordinator for research into impacts- Asia

(International Water Management Institute, IWMI)

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Tools used for communication

Farah Ahmed

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Technical innovations, media and communications in research uptake

• The following Communication methods can be used depending on your audience:

Infographics & Data visualization- explaining your information in a visual format

Short films –short, impactful pieces to highlight issues, solutions, Participatory video

Social media- engage stakeholders at different levels

Blogging – A platform for debate, though it is essential that one uses credible blogs

Mainstream media to engage policy makers and stakeholders.

• Key learnings and takeaways:

– New technology can go a long way in terms delivering uptake activities

– In most cases using new innovative technology is cheaper and more effective

– Lack of technology could hinder uptake activities

– Understand your networks – which individuals or groups that have more influential powers

– Some social media activities are strategized while others are on adhoc basis.

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Stories/Messages

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Publications/Policy briefs/Press releases/Blogs/ infographics