New Open Access Toolkit Bridges Gap Between Research and Policy
Picture: ENGAGEgreen
Erasmus+ Project ENGAGEgreen launches Policy Engagement Toolkit, featuring innovative approaches to foster science-policy dialogue
Frankfurt. The Erasmus+ project “Enhancing Institutional Capacities and Researchers’ Competencies for Policy Engagement for Green and Digital Transitions (ENGAGEgreen)” has launched a new Policy Engagement Toolkit to support researchers’ and research managers’ effective engagement with policy institutions and policymakers.
Available at policy-engagement-toolkit.eu, the toolkit is a practical, hands-on collection of guides and real-world examples for transferring knowledge into policy and administration. It supports decision-makers who rely on scientific expertise by showcasing a range of approaches that make research findings clear, relevant and ready to use.
A Comprehensive Resource for Science-Policy Dialogue
With its wide range of engagement approaches, the Policy Engagement Toolkit is meant to inspire new ways of building bridges between science and policy. It features well-known written formats such as policy briefs and policy blogs, as well as many lesser-known dialogue formats – for example, pairing programs, guided site visits, science shops, and hackathons. Each of the more than 60 formats is described and illustrated with practical, real-world examples drawn from actual implementation. All materials are available in English and in the project partners’ national languages (Czech, French, German, Italian, and Spanish). Project leader Dr. Simone Haasler explains: “We want this toolkit to be a practical companion for everyone navigating the complex space between academic research and public policy. The formats we present have been tested and refined in practice. We hope they will inspire and equip institutions across Europe and beyond.”
The toolkit is designed to make knowledge-transfer formats reproducible and invites universities, research institutions, and other interested actors to use the featured formats and approaches as templates or starting points for developing their own science-policy activities. It also serves as a useful reference for researchers who want to integrate knowledge transfer into policy and public administration in their projects. In particular, the toolkit can be used to prepare grant applications that require policy engagement and as a resource for training.
About ENGAGEgreen
ENGAGEgreen is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program. The project partners include the Rhine-Main Universities (Goethe University Frankfurt, TU Darmstadt, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany), Palacký University Olomouc (Czech Republic), University of Granada (Spain), Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy), Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France), and the Beta Technological Centre at Vic University (Spain).
Funded by the European Union under grant agreement 2023-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000157347. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA.
Text: Goethe University Frankfurt
