Policy Pull or Science Push for evidenced informed policy? by Professor Joanna Chataway

Many of us would give an almost instinctual answer to the question posed in the title to this talk. We would say that clearly both are important.  However, the relationship between scientific advice in response to pressing policy questions on one hand, and research and evidence based on academic drivers on the other,  is a complex one and in practice, has often been fraught.  Covid-19 and other global crises have highlighted the need to rethink the relationship between science and policy. 

Based on her direct experience and broader knowledge of initiatives which span the realms of policy and evidence, Professor Chataway will explore new ways of thinking about knowledge flows between policy and science.  She’ll introduce the idea of policy pollinators as a way of envisioning productive interaction between the realms of policy and evidence.   Enabling ‘collective intelligence’ with new social and technological infrastructure also potential for improving an infrastructure to underpin better evidence informed policy.