The Impact Initiative

Our mission is to increase the uptake and impact of research from two major research programmes jointly funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO): the Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research and the Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems Research Programme. [read more] 

The Impact Initiative 

Explore the research

Education
Teaching and learning, poverty, gender, disability

RLO
Children & Young People
Health, education, protection, livelihoods
Gender
Health, education, social norms, power, rights
Governance
Participation, accountability, citizenship, rights
Health
Health equity, accountability, infectious diseases, maternal health
Livelihoods
Making a living, securing basic necessities
Security
Development and conflict contexts, local governance, religion, gender
Urban/Rural
Issues specific to urban or rural contexts, migration, the environment

Track the impact

Testing and showcasing ways that research can bring about change

Improving Adult Literacy in Niger Through Mobile Calls to Teachers

Research in adult education programmes in Niger directly led to improved reading and maths scores. Based on the evidence, the approach has also been tested by the Ministry of Education in primary schools.

Outsourcing Primary Education in Liberia

Following contracting out of government primary schools to private companies in Liberia, researchers have examined the effects of these partnerships and how the schools deliver (or fail to deliver) better outcomes.

Improving Early Childhood Education in Rural Bangladesh

Research in Bangladesh demonstrates how early childhood programmes could be effectively adapted for implementation at scale, using locally available resources and infrastructure.
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Download the resources

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Maximising the Impact of Global Development Research

This report, by the Impact Initiative for International Development Research, provides an approach for brokering evidence across large research investments. It is based on six years of work undertaken by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the REAL Centre based at the University of Cambridge, engaging with over 200 research projects funded by the ESRC-FCDO Strategic Partnership. It provides lessons and recommended practices for all those funding and designing social science research for development and seeking to maximise its impact beyond academia.

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Recipes for Impact - revised edition

This revised booklet profiles a selection of research funded by the ESRC-FCDO Strategic Partnership and the impact they have achieved. Impact stories show a snapshot of research and highlight the multiple, unique and surprising paths to achieving impact.

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Impact Lessons: Engaging Marginalised Communities in National Policy Formation

Explores six key benefits of involving marginalised groups in national policy formation which emerged from the Impact Initiative's ‘Engaging Marginalised Communities in National Policy Formation’ virtual event in June 2020.

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Catch up on the news

Research funders urged to take a collective approach to support impact
This week research funders will be urged to take a new approach to engaging evidence with policy that values collaborations and learning. As the world continues to be gripped by a pandemic that has prompted renewed political commitment to “following the science” a report from the Impact Initiative finds that it often takes multiple research studies spanning geographies and disciplines to shift understanding and decision making.
Reconceptualising teacher professional development in Honduras
Supported by the Impact Initiative, the webinar, ‘Reconceptualising Teacher Professional Development in Honduras’ took place on 1 February 2021. Six panellists presented a new model which combined the research of two ESRC-FCDO RLO research projects which provides an innovative, effective, and relevant intervention that help teachers improve their teaching practices.
Celebrating the successes and lessons of the Raising Learning Outcomes Programme
Reported outcomes ‘harvested’ from across the Raising Learning Outcomes Programme to build a picture of the diverse processes and pathways to impact across the portfolio have been presented at an Impact Initiative hosted webinar on ‘Celebrating the Successes and lessons of the Raising Learning Outcomes Programme.’
Knowledge brokering must accompany research from the start
Impact support services that try to build the capacity of researchers and broker knowledge between academia, policy and practice need to be built into programmes from the start. This is one of the key messages coming out of a new review commissioned by the UKRI. With the launch of the new Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), capturing learning from the ESRC-DFID Partnership could not come at a better time.
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Access support

The Impact Initiative exists to connect policy makers and practitioners with the world class social science research supported by the ESRC-FCDO Strategic Partnership. We seek to identify research synergies and support grant holders from the Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation or Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems Research Programme to exploit influencing and engagement opportunities, and facilitate learning. Discover how to maximise the impact of your project.

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Motorcycles and food security in African 'secondary cities'

Researchers, civil society groups, and policymakers, explored policy opportunities to support motorcycle taxi transport in addressing urban food security challenges.

Migrants provide solutions for urban sustainability

Researchers and policymakers from city and national planning agencies discussed the insights and challenges faced by migrants in rapidly growing cities in Bangladesh.