Too often, research aiming to inform public policies or strengthen institutions for effective policy implementation remains disconnected from the real political economy of policy and institutional reform. This webinar will introduce a new rubric to assess opportunities for research partnerships that navigate this complex terrain of power and leverage sometimes unexpected spaces of engagement.

The rubric with application to three cases in small-scale fisheries will be illustrated—one at national level (Myanmar) and two at regional level (Pacific Islands region and sub-Saharan Africa). We will also discuss four principles for designing research to engage in policy and institutional change: (a) nurture multi-stakeholder coalitions for change at different points in the policy cycle, (b) engage alternative forms of power and spaces of engagement, (c) embed ongoing research communications to support dialogue, and (d) employ evaluation in a cycle of action and learning to strengthen research engagement.

While the cases are drawn from the fisheries sector, the intent is to spark a discussion on applicability of the rubric and principles across other sectors of agriculture, rural development, and natural resource governance.