Knowing how: Putting research into practice

What Works Scotland and community planning partners in Fife have worked together on collaborative action research projects for the past three years.

Here, Coryn Barclay, Research Consultant at Fife Council, blogs about how research is the 'secret weapon in public service reform'.

Getting evidence into action: how can we understand what we already know?

What Works Scotland Co-director Dr Sarah Morton writes about the processes involved in setting up an Evidence Bank to support public and voluntary sector partners in accessing existing research evidence to help to inform decision-making.

Recently published in Evidence and Policy journal, she describes the work she has led at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships where she has been developing knowledge exchange (KE) over the last decade.  Sarah is also Co-director of the Centre.

What key Evidence to Action resources are available for public service reform?

Karen Seditas from What Works Scotland offers an overview of What Works Scotland knowledge partners’ resources for Evidence to Action. 

Getting Knowledge into Action in Fife

Fifty people from across Fife Council, the health, and voluntary sectors met on 4 November to discuss how to get knowledge into action in Fife. This followed on from a previous What Works Scotland national event on Getting Knowledge in Action in Public Services, held in Edinburgh earlier in the year. 

Four speakers shared their insight into evidence into action. Paul Vaughan set the scene in Fife; Sarah Morton talked about the issues of getting evidence into action; and David Paterson and Coryn Barclay shared examples of evidence to action projects in Fife.

Reforming services: the example of refugee support

Joe Brady, Head of Protection & Integration at the Scottish Refugee Council, explains an organisational change process that led to a sharper focus on assets. He explains how service redesign was achieved through developing principles and trying and testing new approaches to learn what works in tackling issues of refugee integration and exclusion. This has included using Christie Principles and integrating evidence to action.

Creating an Evidence Bank for Public Service Reform

Karen Seditas and Sarah Morton share details of the What Works Scotland Evidence Bank that is currently being developed to support the use of evidence in public service reform.