The Transforming Evidence collaboration is a group of colleagues with a shared interest in how to produce and use evidence more effectively to address societal challenges.
There is already a lot of expertise about this problem. People have studied research funding and evaluation systems, ways to measure impact, strategies to improve uptake, and more. Yet much of this learning remains in disciplinary silos. This means that researchers and funders waste resources on trying ineffective ways to improve evidence production and use, and those studying this problem also focus on questions we already know the answer to.
We want to help the community of scholars, funders and practitioners/policymakers share their knowledge and expertise more effectively. We want to improve debates about, and research into what evidence is, how it is used, and the different meanings attached to these processes and outcomes.
Our aims:
- Share existing knowledge and best practice about evidence use, drawing out key lessons from STS, public policy, development, health and beyond
- Connecting communities across sectors and globally, to create networks and identify and address new questions
- Advising decision-makers on how to make better use of evidence, building capacity and supporting creating use
- Generating new research on evidence production and use, building on what we already know and ensuring transdisciplinary collaboration flourishes.
To get this going, we (Kathryn Oliver and Annette Boaz) organised a two-day meeting hosted by the Nuffield Foundation:
We are always happy to hear about new research, meetings, events, or other news relevant to this shared endeavour. Please get in touch with any news, and we will disseminate for you.
We will also share updates about conferences and research funding opportunities which may be of interest. If you want to hear about these, please sign up using the form below. We promise not to get in touch about anything else.
