On October 21st, 2022, The Broker and its partners in the NWO-funded research programme on SDG Interactions and Policy Interventions in Developing Countries organised a multistakeholder meeting, involving researchers, policymakers, and civil society representatives, to celebrate the first year of the programme. The meeting created the space necessary for the researchers to share and discuss their research undertakings with policymakers. In doing so, the meeting facilitated productive knowledge exchanges, setting the scene for longer-term policy-research interactions. Throughout the meeting, participants stressed the benefits emerging from sustained, long-term policy-research collaboration: for policymakers, it can translate into more opportunities for evidence-based policymaking; while for researchers, it could strengthen the social relevance and impact of their projects.
The meaningful policy-research interaction facilitated by the multistakeholder meeting led to several key insights, which are summarised below (for a more detailed account of the meeting, read the summary note here):
- A common language on what is meant by SDG interactions (synergies and trade-offs) is needed to enhance research-policy collaboration
- Developing a greater understanding of the mid- and longer term implications of SDG interactions—i.e. trade-offs can turn into synergies over time—can improve SDG governance
- In developing evidence-based policies and interventions to govern SDG interactions, it is important to focus on high quality impact research by selecting studies that have gone through an international peer reviewed process
- Policy coherence requires awareness of multiple (national, regional and international) development frameworks. As such identifying points of connection between the SDG framework and national development agendas and priorities will be critical
- Researchers and policymakers are already harnessing the SDGs’ convening power to enhance interaction. Both sides can make greater use of formal and informal channels to further strengthen policy-research interaction