Being a knowledge mobiliser: art, craft or science?

Learn how Rob Davies, a seasoned knowledge mobiliser, turned his diverse career experiences into impactful contributions to academic policy engagement.

The knowledge mobiliser role 

Upon entry to the KBA, participants indicated a low level of confidence in their understanding of the roles, responsibilities, ethics and identities of a knowledge mobiliser. As a cohort, they also indicated interest in an array of training, skills development, and capability-building opportunities, suggesting diverse learning needs and wide-ranging goals. This highlights the known appetite among researchers and professional services staff for academic-policy engagement, and the need for focused support, including hearing insights from knowledge mobilisers and policy professionals. 

Rob's career journey

Rob Davies is Head of Policy & Dialogue, UCL CLOSER and a knowledge mobilised. Rob shared his professional journey with the KBA cohort, discussing how his career has involved roles in teaching, the civil service, UK parliament, and patient and public engagement. Through these roles, Rob has acquired a range of specialist and transferable skills.  

Early in his career, Rob gained experience in stakeholder management techniques, marketing, speechwriting, and engagement; he later consolidated these skills by developing expertise in facilitation, teaching skills, and a deep understanding of the policy landscape in the UK. Acquiring this knowledge around effective methods and pathways for policy engagement has enabled Rob to contribute meaningful interventions in knowledge mobilisation, for example in his work on diversifying engagement with Parliamentary select committees. 

The visible and invisible work

Rob explained how ‘being a knowledge mobiliser’ can be understood in a number of ways, including:   

• Taking the role of an enabler and a connector. 
• Being someone who can identify opportunities, and who it is that holds power to influence and inform decisions. 
• Acting as an ambassador and a champion for evidence-based policy. 
• Being a “trusted source” – is particularly important in challenging the lack of diversity of expertise and evidence provided to decision-makers. 

Traits of a successful knowledge mobiliser

“Policymakers are human beings subject to a range of influences,” Rob explained, and therefore persuasion and influence can take many forms. Depending on the nature of the policy problem and the available evidence, this might involve anything from linking research to government priorities, to engaging the media to push for change, to using storytelling techniques to translate research evidence into an accessible knowledge base. 

As the Narrative CV model suggests, knowledge mobilisation involves both visible and invisible skills. Knowledge mobilisers may be seen organising events and training sessions, submitting evidence and briefing notes, and maximising their impact through social media. Underlying these activities however are a number of less visible activities such as horizon scanning, building relationships, identifying opportunities for engagement, synthesising evidence, and more.