Practical lessons for the The Africa Evidence Network (AEN) community from the UK’s Government–University Pairing Scheme
“There is a lot of effort going into generating good evidence… but less consistent support for the early partnership work that makes that possible, and for the follow through that ensures findings are actually used.” — Kate Gerrand, Department of Health and Social Care
Run by the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) with the UK’s Government Office for Science, the Government–University Pairing Scheme brings together people working in government and academia to help them better understand each other’s working environments through conversation and shadowing.
In a recent reflection published by UPEN, Kate Gerrand, Head of Health Protection Research at the Department of Health and Social Care, and Peter Van der Graaf, Professor in Knowledge Exchange at Northumbria University, share what they learned from being paired through the scheme. Their experience offers a practical window into an often-overlooked part of getting evidence into decisions: the relationships that make exchange possible.
The undervalued work is relational. A key theme from their reflections is that producing good evidence is only part of the work. As Gerrand observed, considerable effort goes into generating evidence and supporting applied research, but there is “less consistent support for the early partnership work that makes that possible, and for the follow through that ensures findings are actually used.” She also reflected that much of knowledge mobilisation “depends on those informal connections rather than formal structures.” For the pair, having no predetermined output created space to understand each other’s roles, pressures and ways of working.
Timing matters too. Their reflections also highlight the different paces at which research and policy operate. Policy decisions can move quickly, while research often takes longer — creating a gap between when evidence is produced and when decision-makers need it. Gerrand pointed to a practical response: better understanding policy windows and designing research and engagement with those moments in mind.
What can the AEN community take from this? Their experience is a useful reminder that strengthening evidence-informed decision-making is not only about producing credible evidence. It also means investing in the relationships, mutual understanding and timing that help evidence reach the right people when it can inform a decision. For the AEN community, this raises an important question: are we investing enough in the relationships that enable evidence to move from knowledge into decisions?
