Science for global impact: Engaging with international and intergovernmental policy actors

Background:
From the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change and the war in Ukraine, societies face interconnected and evolving challenges. Multilateral institutions such as United Nations agencies based in Geneva foster the coordination of prevention and response to these challenges, and science plays a vital role in this process.

In line with UCL’s position as London’s Global University, UCL research and expertise informs international public policy through evidence, methods, expertise, logic, and innovations, helping to guide international negotiations, develop solid programs, evaluate their impact, and shape collective decision-making.

However, academic-policy engagement is often challenging. Most researchers do not receive training on engaging with policy actors, forcing them to learn on their own on an ad hoc basis. Research directions and outputs are not necessarily in line with policy needs. Policy actors’ usual lack of research skills hinder the use of science in their decisions.

This interactive workshop aims to build capacity among UCL researchers interested in engaging with the United Nations, and the wider Geneva eco-system of global policy actors.

Learning objectives
Facilitated by GSPI (Geneva Science-Policy Interface), the workshop is divided into three parts and, through presentations and exercises, you will learn about:

1. Actors, processes and opportunities in international policy, specifically related to the international Geneva ecosystem of actors (U.N., global NGOs, platforms, etc.);

2. Successes, failures and practices in engaging with international policy actors and processes; and

3. Applying the above to your own realities to reflect on how you can make progress and cross-pollinate your learnings.

Context
The workshop is offered in the context of an ongoing cross-institutional project led by UCL Global Engagement, UCL European Institute and UCL Public Policy, designed to identify and showcase international policy engagement at UCL, and pilot associated resources and support.

For more on this project, please see: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global/news/2022/may/facilitating-international-policy-engagement-ucl-0