The famous mathematics department at Cambridge now has a new centre based within it – the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication. It has been founded by a philanthropist with a laudable interest in the...

Today’s Autumn Statement will likely see a raft of new policy announcements. But if the public – and, for that matter, Parliament – are to understand and engage with the rationale behind these policies, the Government...

The jointly developed ‘Evidence Transparency Framework’ asks whether someone outside of government can tell what the government is proposing to do, and why.  The report shows where transparency about the use of evidence is being achieved...

I found Evidence Works 2016 to be positive and refreshing evidence in itself of great commitment and intelligent, locally-fashioned solutions to measurement and evaluation challenges by people from a wide array of countries. At the Australian...

At Evidence Works 2016 Tessie C. Gregorio (Philippines Department of Budget and Management) spoke about the Philippines’ journey towards results-based budgeting – placing a new focus on the performance and outcomes of government agencies beyond financial measures. In...

In the first of a series of guest blogs from Evidence Works 2016 delegates, Hon. Susan Musyoka shares some of the challenges faced by the Parliamentary Caucus on Evidence-Informed Decision-Making which she chairs, and the strategies being used...

Geoff Mulgan (Nesta) questions the popularity of the term ‘theory of change’ and suggests that it can encourage too simplistic an understanding of why change occurs. The phrase ‘theory of change’ is bandied around throughout the world...

In a round up of some of the best post-referendum blogs, maintaining trust, integrity and independence in the evidence ecosystem in the wake of the EU referendum campaign is vital, writes Helen Cunningham, Wales lead for...

If you view gathering evidence as simply a means of demonstrating outcomes, you’re missing a trick. It’s most valuable when part of a journey of iterative improvement, writes Frances Flaxington (Catch22).  We often assume that generating evidence is...

How will Britain’s departure from the EU affect our social sciences, ask Ashley Lenihan and Sharon Witherspoon from the Academy of Social Sciences and its Campaign for Social Science. Britain has voted to leave the European Union. Professor Roger...

Emily Hayter (INASP) highlights some fundamental challenges faced by African policymakers when it comes to using research, based on the experiences of participants in the VakaYiko programme. These must be addressed by those wishing to build capacity for civil servants...

Academic institutions are producing high quality, highly trusted social science data but this isn’t always translated into policy and practice. Why are universities not having the impact on social policy that we might expect? How can universities...