The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters has published a handbook for researchers on science-for-policy.
Pathways to Impact: Researcher’s Handbook on Science-for-Policy is a new handbook published by the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. It provides strategic tools for strengthening the impact of research in policy-making. It answers questions such as: how is research knowledge transferred to policy-makers? And when is the right time to engage in a policy process?
“High-quality, multidisciplinary research knowledge is needed to support policy-makers in addressing interconnected societal challenges. Recognising that researchers already face a lot of pressures in their academic work, we wanted to produce a handbook that would make societal impact work more accessible and approachable for researchers. Indeed, we aim to encourage and motivate researchers to engage in societal impact work”, explains knowledge broker Linda Lammensalo.
“The handbook aims to assist researchers in different stages of their careers to excel in their impact work.”
The handbook, for example, outlines different stages of policy-making, with a focus on the Finnish national context. It also includes practical tips from the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office in responding to policy-makers’ knowledge requests. It contains interactive tools to practice and reflect on one’s own experiences and expertise, as well as concrete examples from other researchers who have already engaged in impact work.
According to Lammensalo, the handbook can give researchers a good starting point for their impact work.
“We hope that the handbook will inspire researchers to discover new pathways for increasing the impact of their research.”
English copies of the handbook can be purchased from Tiedekirja later in May, the PDF version is freely available on our website. The handbook is produced as a part of the Phenomenon Map project funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.
Further information:
Linda Lammensalo
knowledge broker
p. 050 308 7726
linda.lammensalo@acadsci.fi