What kind of actors are Knowledge Brokering Organisations? Improving our understanding through the combination of Boundary Organisations and Multiple Streams Analysis

On 29 September, we welcome colleagues from the Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) to SKAPE as part of our seminar series. Please find the abstract here:

Knowledge Brokering Organisations (KBOs) have multiplied in the evidence-policy landscape in the United Kingdom and beyond (e.g., UK What Works Centres). From brokering evidence for policy to advocacy, these organisations play a growing role in decision-making, and what counts as evidence for policy. Yet, we know very little about their emergence and roles. By building a dialogue between Boundary Organisation theory and Multiple Streams Analysis, this paper examines their birth and activities.

We contribute to the study of evidence-informed policymaking by bringing into dialogue different theories to emphasise the varied ways in which KBOs define, broker, and negotiate evidence at the knowledge-policy boundary. Drawing on interviews with different KBOs in different countries, we highlight the intertwinement of politics and organisation and the value of combining different disciplines and concepts to understand this new policy actor.

All SKAPE seminars will take place online via Zoom in autumn 2021 (for link details, please email the Co-Directors – if you are already a member/associate member of SKAPE, then you will receive a Zoom link two days before the start of the event).