Nikki Knowles and Jean Candler opened the session with a presentation on sector-wide opportunities and challenges facing local govt and what that looks like for Bristol. They outlined their corporate strategy, how the Council works and why, and what researchers should consider when partnering.
A Q&A session with Nikki, Jean and two researchers with experience engaging with local government, Dr Dawn Holford and Dr Harriet Fisher provided the audience with four top tips for local government engagement:
- Build strong relationships: The benefit of having a ‘champion’ embedded in an organisation to support, contribute and share your research is invaluable. The usual challenges (finding the right person, asking for a letter of support, disseminating your findings) are all made easier with strong, lasting relationships.
- Know where your research fits: When considering collaboration, or sharing your findings, consider how this fits into the strategy of the council, and the community they represent. A solid understanding of how your research supports the aims of the council from the outset strengthen your message.
- Start with a conversation. Most of the time the easiest way to find what your looking for is to start with a conversation. It can be hard to find the right person, so use PolicyBristol and the BCC Policy team to help you find who you need.
- Engage early. It’s understandable that the timelines may not always align, but the earlier you can begin your engagement with council colleagues the better.
Researchers from across UOB joined, climate scientists, mathematics, linguistics and theatre studies to name a few! Thanks to everyone who participated in the conversations and made new connections. The usual challenges of academic-policy engagement were highlighted (difficulty of timelines not aligning, capacity restrictions and how to identify priorities), but the session made clear the willingness from both sides for engaging, along with the potential for future collaboration.