This week R2A is full of the perks and pitfalls of the Policy Brief. Policy Brief Week runs from October the 27th to the 31st and is providing a wealth of tips and tricks around actionable recommendations, infographics and how to target the right people. Over the course of the week the R2A team will be showcasing new guidance and commentary whilst seeking to help you understand more clearly what an effective policy brief looks like.
As part of Policy Brief Week, R2A has proudly launched a new animation. Created by Kingdom and Sparrow, the original short film illustrates the importance of honing your message and designing something which is purpose built for your audience.
The policy brief can get a bad press, but evidence shows that policy actors do read policy briefs – even in this digital age. R2A feels that the policy brief deserves more respect. However, in order to achieve this, authors must look for ways of consistently tackling three key issues:
- How to write well and in an engaging style
- How to offer evidence-based and actionable recommendations that meet policy actors needs
- How to nurture engagement between researchers and knowledge brokers and policy actors in order to share policy briefs effectively
Policy briefs can’t change the world on their own, but they can play a massively important role in presenting evidence in a digestible format and setting out clearly what the evidence shows we should do when faced with a particular challenge. It’s time to celebrate the policy brief and to look for new ways of overcoming some of these barriers.
Join “Policy Brief Week, 2014” and be a part of the conversation and the fun!
- Enter the competitions and have a go at one of the R2A conundrums via twitter or facebook (#r2aconundrums)
- Read a new How-to guide from Laura ffrench-Constant
- Stay tuned on twitter via the hashtag #pbweek14
Don’t forget if you have any questions that you need help with in relation to writing policy briefs you can share them on the R2A helpdesk for expert advice.
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