Title page
Contents
Introduction: What is missing for civil servants to better engage with education research? 1
Scoping: Evidence use in complex policy environments 4
Policy context: Findings from the OECD policy survey 6
Finland: Improving policy makers' competences through evaluation, strategies and networks 11
Flanders (Belgium): Administrative restructuring as an opportunity for improving evidence use 16
Ireland: New strategies and administrative units to maximise the impact of research in education policy development 18
The Netherlands: Using behavioural insights to understand and promote evidence-use within the Ministry 23
The Netherlands: Using policy-science interfaces to improve science advice processes 25
Norway: Creating a culture and capacity for research use within the policy analysis unit 28
Conclusions: A systems approach to improving research engagement in policy organisations 30
Policy recommendations 32
References 35
Annex A. Annex: Knowledge infrastructure in participant countries 38
Table 1. Strategies and structures for research engagement in five systems: An overview of the case studies 3
Figure 1. Extent of research use in policy processes 7
Figure 2. What percentage of ministries are mostly satisfied with policy makers' research use? 8
Figure 3. How do ministries report policy makers to evaluate the quality of the research they use? 9
Figure 4. What percentage of ministries agree that there are adequate resources for using research in policy making? 9
Figure 5. Do ministries agree that policy makers have extensive learning opportunities? 10
Figure 6. What competences do ministries report policy makers have to use research? 10
Figure 7. How do ministries perceive policy makers' research use culture? 11
Figure 8. Knowledge, skills and attitudes required for civil servants in Finland 14
Figure 9. The structure of the Department of Education: From the minister to evidence 16
Figure 10. Spending on R&I across government departments in Ireland 19
Boxes
Box 1. OECD Strengthening the Impact of Education Research learning seminars 2
Box 2. The Policy Survey 6
Box 3. Stakeholder research engagement through evaluation 13
Box 4. Engagement / consultation and mapping of research engagement in policy 20
Box 5. Publishing DFHERIS' 2023-2024 research priorities 21
Box 6. Consultation on researcher experience of policy engagement 22
Box 7. Methods and research questions 23
Box 8. Psychological mechanisms linked to Evidence Informed Policy making (EIP) 24
Box 9. Mapping fields of experts in the Netherlands 26
Box 10. Existing models of policy-research interaction 27
Annex Figures
Figure A A.1. Finland 38
Figure A A.2. Flanders (Belgium) 39
Figure A A.3. Ireland 39
Figure A A.4. Netherlands 40
Figure A A.5. Norway 41