Research and education in public sector practice: a systems approach to understanding policy impact

Abstract

Impact-what does it mean and how do we know what "counts"? We all want to do work that has an impact, and this is true of all sectors, whether that be government, public, private, not-forprofit, university, education, or community stakeholders. However, understandings of what it means in practice, what it takes to achieve, and how it can be tracked and calculated remain largely unclear and contested. While the rhetoric of "impact" and the "impact agenda" has become popular in the last decade or so, our practice and research appear to be lagging. In this introductory paper to the special issue on Impact into practice: Demonstrating applied public administration and policy improvement we outline how systems thinking approach can aid understanding of research and education impact on government practice. A systems approach reveals where reliance exists, where responsibility falls, and where new and deepened relationships are needed. While more needs to be done by all parties to acknowledge the collective nature of impact and the necessary reliance on one another, we argue that redistribution of responsibility is needed, including the government's significant role. Without collective recognition of reliance, responsibility, and relationships in the system of impact, our respective endeavors can only be expected to go so far. By thinking about impact as a system, we can end the "blame game" between university and government sectors, and encourage action within and across sectors, in the pursuit of better outcomes for citizens and society.

Implementation of Systems Thinking in Public Policy: A Systematic Review

“…Appendix A details the search strategy for each database. We also searched for relevant citations in the reference lists of the following papers: [13,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

“…We also identified an additional six papers via referencing screening of the aforementioned papers. Overall, 73 papers were included and reviewed in detail [12,13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

Implementation for impact—Measurement, partnership approaches, and storytelling

“…The second impact to implementation theme revolves around partnership approaches. Scholars increasingly indicate that there is a need to work relationally, develop genuine partnerships and trust, and pay attention to the processes for connection that are needed to ensure better outcomes for communities (see Dudgeon & Bray, 2019;Milroy & ANZSOG First Peoples Team, 2019;Althaus et al, 2021). Picking up on this, Riboldi et al (2021) explore the gulf between the theory of commissioning as a strategic and relational practice offering to put communities at the heart of decision-making, and how it is more often practiced as a much less transformational process.…”

Research use and publishing diversity: The role of organisation research publishing for policy and practice

“…Similarly, the research and resources required for public policy and practice are also likely to involve diverse perspectives from multiple sectors on a wide range of topics and in a variety of formats and genres (Hughes et al., 2021). This requires a holistic, systems approach to research use on public interest issues that provides an expanded framework for understanding the many contexts and multiple stakeholders and sectors involved (Althaus et al., 2021). As Head (2015) notes, given the multiple interests, perspectives, and problem frames mobilised by policy actors, the linkages between research and public policy and practice are deeply mediated by diverse and evolving contexts, interpretations, negotiations, and organisational practices which all need to be taken into account.…”

“…There is a considerable body of literature on the use of research in public policy and practice and the related area of evidence‐based or evidence‐informed policy (for summaries of this literature, see Boaz et al., 2019; Head, 2016; Nutley et al., 2007). There have also been many detailed case studies of research use and impact in specific policy and practice areas such as public health (Davies et al., 2015; Escoffery et al., 2018; Strauss et al., 2013), education (Cooper, 2014; Gorard, 2020; White, 2020), public administration (Althaus et al., 2021; Cherney et al., 2015; Head, 2015; Shaxson & Boaz, 2021), environmental studies (Reed & Meagher, 2019), social work (Hughes et al., 2021), and many other fields. However, despite the proliferation of studies, there is much frustration that the use of research in public policy is still limited, and concern that the reasons why are still not fully understood (Boaz & Nutley, 2019; Davies et al., 2015; Langer et al., 2016; Nutley et al., 2007; Williams & Lewis, 2021).…”