To identify ways in which the use of evidence in policy and practice can be enhanced, the Science for Using Research (SURe) programme initiated three research projects. This article discusses their preliminary results.

Today’s challenges are characterized by their complex, multifaceted nature and need concerted, multidimensional action to meet them.

Current policy making in international development lacks the right balance between economic, environmental and social benefits. In order to make policies sustainable, such a balance should be sought more forcefully. This entails engaging the private sector with new and innovative approaches, given its key position in the global development discourse.

While many social change initiatives are laudable, the obsession with measuring their direct impact is distracting us from understanding, and changing, the bigger picture: the systems in which they are embedded.