Converting Research into Real Policy Change
Wednesday, January 11th 9:30 a.m. - 1:50 p.m. (EST)
Dr. Shannon Sampert
Communications Consultant, Columnist, Eakin Fellow, McGill University
Getting your research ideas out into the policy realm of government, non-government and business leaders requires more than just publishing in academic journals. This session provides you with hands-on experience to extend your academic reach so your ideas have an effect outside the ivory towers. This session is designed to provide you with hands-on experience to help you understand when and how to pitch your ideas to the media. The sessions will begin with an overview of the types of ways academics can engage in “knowledge mobilization” – from writing opinion pieces for publication in mainstream media, to shining in the media interview, to policy briefing notes that gets complicated ideas into the hands of policy experts.
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Outline
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Overview of knowledge translation for academics and why it’s increasingly important for academics
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Setting up research-policy partnerships and why it matters
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Writing an opinion piece and potential markets
(Practise session #1 – please come prepared with a research paper/draft that we can work with) -
Acing the media interview
(Practise session #2 – be prepared to work in groups and be critiqued) -
Writing a policy briefing note – purpose, audience and follow up
(Practise session #3 – using opinion piece/research paper/draft) -
Final thoughts – social media and other ideas
(and also dealing with trolls, why it’s different for women and BIPOC and LGBTTQ* and younger faculty members)
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Preparatory Work
Please read prior to the workshop:
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Richards, G. (2017). How Research–Policy Partnerships Can Benefit Government: A Win–Win for Evidence-Based Policy-Making. Canadian Public Policy, 43(2), 165–170. Available at: https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cpp.2016-046?role=tab.
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Orenstein, M. (2020). What Now? Is the time right for nuclear energy? Canada West Foundation. August. Available at: https://cwf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-08-26-CWF_NRC_WhatNowPolicyBrief_NuclearEnergy_WEB.pdf.
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Orenstein, M. (2020). Op-Ed: Is the time right for nuclear energy? Canada West Foundation. December. Available at: https://cwf.ca/research/publications/op-ed-is-the-time-right-for-nuclear-energy/.
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